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The Sisters Kernachan

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"Sister" KERNACHAN born Mecklenburg Co., Va., Nov. 3, 1791; died March 1, 1847; moved to Tenn. in 1818; married Abram Kernachan (died March 12, 1833), 1820, and settled in Lauderdale Co., Ala. the same year; four daughters and one son. She married, as a widow, to Robert Kernachan, May 1834.

April 2, 1847

GENEALOGICAL ABSTRACTS FROM REPORTED DEATHS
THE NASHVILLE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE 1847-1849

By Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 2003

In the above obituary for Martha W. Booth Kernachan, it mentions that she was the mother of 4 daughters and one son. I've so far concentrated on her son, Robert T. Kernachan, Jr.  and his descendants, today, I will take a quick look at the 4 Kernachan sisters. They were ladies of good breeding, and married well, but not ones of luck. 

The 4 were: Mariah C b 1822, Eliza Ann 1823, Matilda Bloomfield 1826 and Mary Lucy 1829.


Mariah and her husband Isaac B. are buried in the Kernachan cemetery in Colbert County, Alabama. 


WILLIAMS, Isaac B.      5 Apr AD 1812 5 Mar AD 1853 aged 39 yrs 11 mos 10 das
WILLIAMS, Maria C.** 6 Apr 1822 1 Sep 1851 aged 29 yrs 4 mos 25 das
**Consort of Isaac B. Williams & daughter of Abram & Martha Kernachan









ame:Mariah Kernachan
Spouse:Isaac B William
Marriage Date:21 Nov 1838
County:Lauderdale
State:Alabama
Source information:Hunting For Bears



They were married in 1838, and appear in the 1850 census of Lauderdale County, Alabama. 


Mariah Williams
Age:28
Birth Year:abt 1822
Birthplace:Alabama
Home in 1850:Florence, Lauderdale, Alabama
Gender:Female
Family Number:906
Household Members:
NameAge
Isaac Williams30
Mariah Williams28

Sadly, both Mariah and her husband died within just a few years of this census, she in 1851 and he in 1853. There are no records or tombstones indicating that they ever had children, or what they died of. Mariah's death was reported in the Nashville Christian Advocate, a paper that was actually published by a relative. 
From the Nashville Christian Advocate: Oct 2, 1851

     Maria Williams, wife of James Williams, Daughter of Abram and Martha Kernachan, died September 1, 1851, in the 30th year of her age. 


Her husband was incorrectly named as "James". His tombstone and the marriage license both record his name as Isaac B. Williams. He was born in Kentucky and was the son of Daniel Williams, who also migrated to Alabama. 

The second daughter, Eliza Ann, also lived a very brief life. Born December 3, 1823, she died May 21, 1845, at the age of 21. She was the blushing young bride of her cousin, Frances Harwood Jones, who would remarry and have a family, and become a state representative. She may have died in childbirth, as many young women did in those days. 

From the Nashville Christian Advocate:

March 12, 1881

Colonel FRANCIS H. JONES born Mecklenburg Co., No. Carolina, June 1, 1809; died near Courtland, Ala., February 3, 1881; married (1) Frances Brown; (2) Ann Eliza Kernachan; (3) Antoinette A. Lile, six children; represented Lawrence Co., Ala. in state legislature several terms; had lived briefly years before in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The article mentions that Col Jones lived briefly in Cincinatti, Ohio. It was this time during his marriage to Eliza. The Kernachans had family in Cincinatti, and kept in touch for generations. They were the children of Andrew Kernachan, younger brother of Abraham and Robert, who had remained in Tennesee, after they had migrated there from Pennsylvania, where they first arrived after leaving Donegal, Ireland. The Kernachans kept in touch with and visited the Cincinatti family for generations. 

The third daughter was Matilda Bloomfield Kernachan. The first name "Matilda Bloomfield" was a name, like  "Minerva Tazwell" that was passed through the Jones, Booth and Simmons families that originated in Southside Virginia, for generations. They were likely the names of very early Matriarchs. Minerva Tazewell may have been a member of the Tazewell family for who Tazewell County was named, and had married into the Booth/Jones family. 

Matilda B was born May 16, 1826. She and her husband James Cary Jones, are both buried in the Kernachan cemetery as well. Not only was James C. Jones her cousin, he was also the brother of her sisters Eliza's husband Francis Harwood Jones. Although she was born in the Shoals, and buried there, she did not live there her entire life. 
Matilda B Jones
[Matilda B Noel
Age:25
Birth Year:abt 1825
Birthplace:Alabama
Home in 1850:Athens, Limestone, Alabama
Gender:Female
Family Number:644
Household Members:
NameAge
James C Jones31
Matilda B Jones25
Eliza A Jones4
Mary L S Jones0
Sarah noll Jones67
Rebecca Sammond39
Ellen Sammond21
Rebecca M Sammond17
Amanda Harriet36

In 1850, they had moved to Limestone County and daughters Eliza Ann and Mary "LuLu" had been born. Also in the household were great-aunt Sarah "Sallie" Booth Noel, (transcriber mistakenly named her 'Noll Jones' when it fact, it actually just says "Noel".) and sister-in-law Rebecca Ann Charlotte Jones Simmons with her two daughters, Ellen, who would marry Robert T. Kernachan Jr, Matilda's brother and Rebecca Minerva Simmons. I believe Amanda Harriett was a member of the Jones or Simmons family, but have not yet placed her.

By 1860, they had moved to Caddo Parrish, Louisiana with other members of the family, including Vinkler Harwood Jones.
M B Jones
Age in 1860:34
Birth Year:abt 1826
Birthplace:Alabama
Home in 1860:Ward 1, Caddo, Louisiana
Gender:Female
Post Office:Shreveport
Value of real estate:View Image
Household Members:
NameAge
J C Jones40
M B Jones34
A E Jones13
M L Jones10
S B Jones8
Daughter Sarah Bloomfield Jones had joined the family.

By 1870, the family had moved to Gavelston, Texas. By then, daughter Eliza Ann (or Ann Eliza as she is sometimes seen, has married William B Norris (transcription error in census again), and the young couple are living with her parents, along with younger children William and Sally and a sister of William Norris, an employee and an unknown young girl named Louisa Oakley.

Name:Matilda B Jones
Age in 1870:44
Birth Year:abt 1826
Birthplace:Alabama
Home in 1870:Galveston Ward 2, Galveston, Texas
Race:White
Gender:Female
Post Office:Galveston
Value of real estate:View Image
Household Members:
NameAge
James O Jones54
Matilda B Jones44
Lula Jones30
William E Jones9
Sally Jones1
Wm B Morris22
E amra Morris32
Jane C Morris13
M Littleford48
Louisa Oakley13
By 1880, the family has returned to Louisiana, to the Lake Charles area. Both James and his son-in-law W. B. Norris became sucessful lumbermen. 
Name:Matilda B. Jones
Age:52
Birth Year:abt 1828
Birthplace:Alabama
Home in 1880:Lake Charles, Calcasieu, Louisiana
Race:White
Gender:Female
Relation to Head of House:Wife
Marital Status:Married
Spouse's Name:James C. Jones
Father's Birthplace:Ireland
Mother's Birthplace:Virginia
Neighbors:View others on page
Occupation:Keeps House
Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:
Household Members:
NameAge
James C. Jones60
Matilda B. Jones52
Wm. E. Jones19
Sarah B. Jones12

James Cary Jones and Matilda B. Jones are both buried in the Kernachan cemetery, along with a number of their children, some who died as infants. 

JONES, Martha Tazewell     7 Apr 1845   15 Jun 1846 aged 1 yr 2 mos 8 das
JONES, Infant 22 Sep 1843 1 Oct 1843
inf son of James C. & Martha B. Jones
JONES, William Edward 2 Aug 1860 15 Oct 1882
son of James Carey & Matilda Bloomfield Jones
JONES, Sallie Bloomfield 11 Aug 1868 29 Mar 1883
dau of James C. & Matilda B. Jones
JONES, James Carey 30 Jul 1819 12 May 1885 father
Matilda Bloomfield 16 May 1826 11 Oct 1885 mother; nee Kernachan

Many people have mistaken the fact, that since Matilda's middle name was Bloomfield, that her mother's maiden name must have been Bloomfield, but it was not, neither was it Tazewell. It was Booth, as her ties with her siblings and named in their wills, have proven.

The 1880 census shows Eliza and her husband living next door to her parents and siblings. But where is Lulu (Mary L. S. Jones)?

Wm. B. NorrisAnna E.Lake Charles, Calcasieu, Louisianaabt 1838New HampshireSelf(Head)
View RecordAnna E. NorrisWm. B.Lake Charles, Calcasieu, Louisianaabt 1847AlabamaWife
View RecordJames C. JonesMatilda B.Lake Charles, Calcasieu, Louisianaabt 1820North CarolinaSelf(Head)
View RecordMatilda B. JonesJames C.Lake Charles, Calcasieu, Louisianaabt 1828AlabamaWife
View RecordWm. E. JonesJames C.,
Matilda B.
Lake Charles, Calcasieu, Louisianaabt 1861LouisianaSon
View RecordSarah B. JonesJames C.,
Matilda B.
Lake Charles, Calcasieu, Louisianaabt 1868TexasDaughter


According to records, James C. Jones and Matilda B Kernachan Jones had 6 children. 

An infant son born in 1843 lived 2 months. Martha Tazwell Jones lived one year 2 months and 8 days. 


Annie Eliza (or Eliza Ann) Jones lived a long life from 1856 to 1932. She married a Norris. 


Mary L. S. Jones, or "LuLu"  born abt 1850, at least made it to adulthood, then I've lost track of her. 


William Edward Jones lived to be 22 and his sister Sarah Bloomfield "Sallie" Jones only made it to 15. 



They youngest of the Kernachan Sisters, also married well, also married a distant relative, and also died young. 


She was the first wife of John N. Malone. John Nicholas Malone was the son of George Booth Malone, and the family had migrated to Alabama from the Dinwiddie County area of Virginia. Again, they were distant cousins through the Booth line. 


Mary Lucy and John Nicholas would have 3 children together, but only one who would make it to adulthood. 


Algernon Kennon Kernachan Malone was born in April of 1846 and died as a toddler in 1848. His tombstone in Athens, Limestone County, Alabama designates him as the son of J. N and Mary Lucy. 


Sister Sarah A "Sallie" Malone fared no better. She was born in February of 1848 and died in December of 1850, not quite 3 years old. 


The only child to grow up was Robert Booth Malone, the second child of these three, born March 31, 1847, he lived until April 1, 1933. He remained a citizen of Athens and married Betty Custus and had 9 children. This one son made Mary Lucy Kernachan Malone the sister with the most descendants. 


Her widower, John Nicholas Malone, went on to marry Rebecca Minerva Simmons, the sister of Ellen Simmons who married Mary Lucy's brother Robert and daugther of Rebecca Ann Charlotte Jones Simmons, who is shown in the census above, living with her brother James C. Jones and wife Matilda Kernachan Jones, making this family tie nearly too entwined to explain. 


John N. Malone is featured in Biographies of Limestone County. See below. He was a farmer and statesman of reknown. He and R. M. Simmons Malone would have 6 children of their own. 

MALONE, JOHN N., Attorney-at-law, Athens, Ala., was born in Sussex County, Va. His parents, George and Sallie (Moyler) Malone, natives of Virginia, and of Irish descent, came to Limestone county in 1823, and here spent the rest of their lives, the old gentleman dying in 1847, at the age of sixty-two years ; his wife having preceded him to the other world by about four years. They reared a family of three sons and three daughters, of whom John N., and a sister are the only ones living. One of the sons was a doctor, another a farmer.  The subject of this sketch graduated from La Grange College, Franklin County, Ala., as A. B., in 1830, and subsequently in due course received from the same institution the degree of A. M. He studied law with J. W. McLung, Huntsville: was admitted to the bar in 1841, and practiced law for ten years. Then for the next succeeding ten years, though maintaining his office at Athens, he devoted his time to planting. In 1881, he was elected to the State Senate and was kept there for six consecutive years. After the war, he resumed the practice of law, and farming, and in 1881, was appointed probate judge to fill out an unexpired term of five years, the office having been vacated by the death of John M. Townsend.  Judge Malone was one of the trustees of the Alabama University from 1851 to the outbreak of the war, and has been one of the trustees of the Agricultural and Mechanical School of Auburn since its organization in 1874. Thus we find that he has nearly all his life been interested in the cause of education. He was a delegate to the National Convention at Baltimore in 1852, and supported Franklin Pierce and William R. King. He took an active part in the memorable presidential campaign of 1860; supported Stephen A. Douglas for the presidency ; was opposed to secession because he feared it would be followed by coercion and war; but after Alabama seceded, he cast his fortunes and fate with her, and was intensely Southern in his sentiments and in full sympathy with the Southern Confederacy. 
John N. Malone was married in Lauderdale County in 1844, to Mary Lucy Kernachan, who died in 1848, leaving one son, Robert, now a planter in Limestone County. His second marriage took place in the same county in 1854, to Miss Rebecca Simmons, and to this union have been born two sons and three daughters. The youngest son, Henry, is a farmer: George is a merchant; two of the daughters are married to merchants in Arkansas, and the third one is at home. The family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and Judge Malone is a Mason. Source: Northern Alabama - Historical and Biographical by Smith & De Land, Birmingham, Ala 1888




James Chappell Malone

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There were alot of Malones. This family seemed to have dipped its toes into every bloodline that came out of  'Olde' Virginia and spread their seeds throughout the South. There were also a good number of Chappell's, so James Chappell Malone of Limestone County was not hurting for relatives. However, Mariah B. Winfield Moffat (sans Booth) was not one of them, not a close one any way.

The will of George Booth, proved in 1763 in Sussex County, Virginia, mentions a good number of Malones, as there was a strong intermarriage between the families in that generation, so James Chappell Malone may have been a distant relative of Mariah, as George was her  great, great-grandfather, but not a close one.


The Will of George BoothProved 3/16/1763 Sussex Co., VA
. . . to grandson George Booth, son of George BoothSussex County land south of Sappony Creek, also 100 acres to the north side of Sappony Creek, bounded by Ready (Reedy) Branch. To grandson George Parham, son of John Parham, land in Sussex County in the fork of Sappony Creek, 220 acres, and 40 pounds. To grandsons John ParhamThomas Parham, and Matthew Parham, 40 pounds each, as well as to granddaughter Anne Heath. To my daughter Mary Parham, 100 pounds and personality [a slave??]. After her death, the Nego to return to my grandddaughter Anne Heath. To grandsons Reuben Booth and Thomas Booth and Gilliam Booth and John Booth and George Malone and Rueben Malone and Booth Malone and William Malone and to my granddaughters Mary Booth and Winifred Robertson and Wilmouth Malone: 40 pounds each. to my daughter Ann Malone, 100 pounds. To my granddaughter Lucy Jones, 40 pounds and personality [a slave??]. To my friend Lucy Hill 40 pounds, saddle & bridle and check linene. To my grandson George Booth, the rest of my estate. Executor: Grandson George Booth.
Signed George Booth his mark X
Wit: Amos Love, John Malone, Frederick Smith


The above Thomas Booth, mentioned as a grandson, was the grandfather of Mariah Booth Winfield. James Chappell Malone was the son of Thomas Chappell Malone and Mary Chappell. He was born on June 5,  1800 in Sussex County, Virginia and died September 8, 1863 in Marietta, Georgia. He married Eliza Frances Binford, another member of those grand Virginia families, and was the father of 9 children. Thomas C Malone was the son of Daniel Malone and Anna Chappell, while his wife was the daughter of Thomas Chappell and Elizabeth Tucker Malone. Thomas Chappell was the son of Thomas Chappell Sr and Mary Briggs; Elizabeth Tucker Malone was the daughter of William Malone (son of William Malone, Sr and Anne Tucker) and Mary Hill. Daniel Malone, father of Thomas C. Malone, above, was the brother of Elizabeth Tucker Malone and his wife Anna, was the daughter of Thomas Chapell, Sr. and Mary Briggs, meaning Daniel and Anna were first cousins and that James C Malones parents were both first and second cousins to each other, so while James C Malone was related to himself several times over, he was not in any way a close relative of Mariah B Winfield Moffett Booth.


So, when Mariah took Robert Kernachan to court in 1843 and requested that guardianship be transferred from her uncle-in-law, Robert, to James C Malone, esquire, who was James to her?

He was then, a gentleman, likely someone she had met and trusted the integrity of. With this transfer, Mariah and her daughter Mary Ann Newland Moffett, had moved from Lauderdale County, Alabama, into Limestone County, to the growing little town of Athens.


In this book:

Vanderbilt University Quarterly, Volume 7

 By Vanderbilt University

Front Cover A magnificent oration is given on the attributes of James Chappell Malone, Esq. in a section devoted to his son, Thomas H. Malone.

It says, "James Chappell Malone the father, as we have seen, was born in Sussex County, Virginia about twenty miles from Petersburgh, in about the year 1800, whence he removed with his family to the valley of the Tennessee, in Alabama in 1818. He married Eliza Frances Hardiman Binford, already mentioned, in whom was exemplified to a marked degree, that sweet, gentle repose of manner which characterized the well-bred Southern woman of the old regime. He was a man of mark both intellectually and physically and withall had such strength of moral and religious fiber -doubtless the heritage of his Huguenot blood- that the allurements neither of social prestige, nor of wealth, nor of leisure could swerve him from a life of deep personal piety."

Link to description of ancestry of James C Malone

The parents of James C Malone


The Vanderbuilt Quarterly also gives this description of Judge Malone's home in Athens, which Mariah had resided in after her departure from the Kernachan abode.

"When not more than forty-one or two years of age, ........he purchased a tract of some thousand acres of land not more than a mile from the town of Athens, Alabama, within easy reach of his plantations, chosen with reference to its situation, rather than its fertility. On it he erected a typical Southern mansion, attractive alike in the generous amplitude of its space, and the beauty of its architecture, and committing his plantations to the care of overseers, (visiting each one of them nearly every week), he devoted himself to the beautification and care of his home, to his orchards, etc, to the enjoyment of books and the chase, the rearing and training of his children, and to that dignified leisure that sat so well upon the Southern planter of olden time. To his home, he gave the name Secluseval."

A citizen of Athens gives this description of Secluseval:

"The typical roomy elegant home, of his then wealthy, aristocratic parents, was noted for its lavish, genuine, but unostentatious hospitality. It was one of some half score homes in or very near Athens, noted for the honesty of purpose, refinement, culture and learning of the indwellers; the homes of the Colemans, Vassars, Richardsons, Malones, Featherstones, Lockharts and a few others."

So we see that the home where Mariah and her young daughter moved to was one of comfort and owned by a wealthy Southern gentleman with the old Virginia ties of her own family. Judge Malone did for Mariah one last favor and that favor would last for decades and allow her to be found.




Honoring Memorial Day

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I recently joined the Daughters of the American Revolution, or DAR.

One of their time honored traditions is placing flags on the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers for the Memorial Day Weekend.

This past Memorial Day was the first time I was able to join in on this tradition.

We traveled to a number of old cemeteries in the northern part of the county.



Some Patriots are buried in church cemeteries that still remain, however, most are buried in old family cemeteries that have long been abandoned, or in church cemeteries or community cemeteries of places that no lonter exist. I was fascinated to discover where these old burial site were, and also honored to be able to pay tribute to our veterans of ages past. 
We had to trek through woods and pastures to get to many of them. In one such cemetery, we were escorted by a friendly yellow Lab. She walked us to and from the grave site, making sure we did not stray from our path.
This grand old oak marked the entrance of one such cemetery. 
The first cemetery we visited was the Tishie-Carter cemetery. There we put up flags for the following Patriots: Soloman Carter, John Carter, Thomas A. Carter, George Carter, Tillmon Carter and Thomas Marks. This cemetery is located near the Palestine Community, not far from Mountain Creek.

The next cemetery was the Samuel Carter cemetery.  This one was not very far from the Tishie-Carter cemetery. They were probably a related family and all of this property Carter lands at one time. 
This one was also along the same trajectory following Mountain Creek to the Yadkin River. They probably settled along Mountain Creek and her tributaries.



The Howell Parker cemetery is near the present town of New London. The Parker family ran a gold mine near New London and the cemetery is close to the old site of the mine. What fascinated me most was seeing modern graves located in these old cemeteries in the woods. Dates into the 2000's. Someone probably loved the old family plots and wished to be buried there. The Parker cememtery is a very eerie place where the trees speak in whispers and you feel if you are being watched. Serene, yet a presence remains.


The one actual church that we visited was Mattons Grove. Here, the present church building is located across the street from the beautiful old white church and her cemetery. There is a bench here erected in honor of the Selle family and claims they arrived at this spot in 1740. Indeed, this cemetery is full of people named Selle, Sell, or Sells, several incarnations of the same original name. They were likely an out-branch of the German Settlement that existed near St. Johns Lutheran church near present day Mount Pleasant in Cabarrus County. Indeed, this little church is very near the Stanly-Cabarrus line and many early settlers in the northern and western part of Stanly and the southern part of Rowan were connected to this early German settlement along Dutch Buffalo Creek. Matton's Grove is very near the present communities of Richfield and Misenhiemer.


The last cemetery we visited was the George Crowell cemetery, not far from Kendall Valley. This old cemetery is surrounded by a brick wall and has many tall, impressive old monuments, dating back to persons born in the 1700's. Sadly, many of them are covered in thorns, although the names and dates are very legible. There are several members of the McLester family buried here.  I can recall seeing the name of an Alexander McLester among one of the families I have researched, as an associate in some legal papers.



It is an honored traditon to pay homage to these soldiers of days gone by. If it were not for them, we would not have the freedoms and blessing that we enjoy today.

Many celebrate Memorial Day with cookouts, parades, beach trips, camping trips or fishing trips. While enjoying your leisure, recall what the holiday was put in place for, the memory of these valiant men who've gone before.


Carroll County, Mississippi

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Carroll County, Mississippi was one of the popular destinations for citizens of Stanly, Montgomery and Anson County, North Carolina who headed west.

Carroll County swamp in winter

During my research, I've discovered members of the Tillman family, Howell family and Wall family who moved there. I am sure there were many others.


The Tillmans would settle in Carrollton after leaving Stanly County while the family of James Wall and his second wife, Nancy Baldwin Davis, oldest daughter of Henry Davis, oldest son of Job, settled near Black Hawk. 


James G Howell migrated there from Stanly County. He was the son of Jordan Howell, who was the brother of Richard Howell, first husband of my ggggreat-grandmother Sarah Elizabeth Winfield Howell Davis. This Jordan, I have determined, married Martha Randle and had 3 sons, John Randle Howell, James G Howell and Richard Howell. Richard died while still a young man in Stanly County in the 1870's, John Randle Howell married a niece of Sarah Winfield Howell Davis, took care of his mother and raised a family in Stanly County, while James G Howell migrated to Carroll County, Mississippi.



Richard Howell and Sarah Winfield had 4 children, Peter Howell, Jordan Howell, John W. Howell and Charlotte. Peter Howell married Elizabeth, or Betsy, Floyd, daughter of Josiah Floyd and Mary Tillman Floyd, a couple who had migrated from Virginia with Sarah's second husband Job Davis in tow. Peter farmed on the opposite side of the Rocky River from his mother and step-father, on the Anson side, just north of present day Ansonville and south of Norwood, in what was known as Cedar Hill. Only daughter, Charlotte (named for grandmother Charlotte Freeman Winfield) married Levi Stancill and returned to his home area of Newton County, Georgia, where he was a minister. Middle sons Jordan and John W. moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina where both married widows and became businessmen, Jordan a merchant and John W. a lumberman and merchant.

Methodist Church in Blackhawk. As the Davis, Howell and related families were all Methodists, it is probably they attended this church. 

What was interesting was the existence of another Jordan Howell, from the Cumberland/Fayetteville area, born approximately the same year as their uncle Jordan Howell, father of John Randle, James G and Richard Howell, sons of Martha Randle Howell, who migrated to Carroll County, Mississippi and lived to be an old man there. Only the wife was different. Could these Jordan's, both born around 1784-1786, have been the same man? Could he have signed lands in Stanly County, NC over to his children, leave his wife (who would later be declared an idiot, perhaps senile) in care of his oldest son, who was barely an adult, and head west, remarry and have more children?

Carroll County, Mississippi Courthouse and Civil War Monument. 

At any rate, many Carroll County, MS citizens have Stanly/Anson/Montgomery county roots and many of these families intertwined.

Some might think they have no use to explore the lives of those who left, if they are descended from those who stayed. But that line of thought is so wrong. Oftentimes, following those wagontrains can lead to discoveries and knockdown brickwalls.

Childless aunts and uncles can leave property in wills to their nieces, nephews and siblings back east, that can establish family ties. Property suits can name ancestry. Sons can go back east to marry a cousin and bring her west in more or less 'arranged' marriages designed to keep property and wealth in a family line.

Marshall Family Cemetery, Carroll County, MS. Several individuals buried here were bon in Stanly or Anson County, NC. 

Repeated naming patterns may not prove anything, but can at least hint at a path of research to follow.

At any rate, Carroll County, Mississippi has become important in my research. Soon, I will be digging there as much as in the red mud on the banks of the Rocky River.

File:Malmaison, Carrollton vicinity (Carroll County, Mississippi).jpg
Malmasion, mansion home of Greedwood Leflore, for whom Leflore County, MS was named. Last and greatest  Chief of the Choctaw Nation.




Carroll County is located in the delta region of Mississippi and was at one time much larger, three times its present size. It was established after the signing of  the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek between the US Government and the Choctaw Indians. The last and greatest chief of the Choctaw, Greenwood Leflore, owned a beautiful mansion and plantation in Carroll County that has now burned down. 

Link to story of Greenwood Leflore




Sadly, much of Carroll County, Mississippi's marks left in history books was of racial unrest and intolerance, dirt swept under a broad and discriminatory carpet.

Link to Carroll County Courthouse Massacre of 1886


This marriage announcement for the daughter of James Wall, was the James Wall, son of John of Anson County, NC who had married the oldest daughter of Henry Davis, and granddaughter of Job, Nancy Baldwin Davis. The Wall family migrated from Brunswick County, Virginia, to Anson and then some of the children later migrated west to Carroll County. 



Wall-Harlin
Miss Sue H. Wall and Mr. Samuel O. Harlin, both of Carroll County, were married on November 7th at the residence of the bride's father, Col. James Wall, by Elder B. F. Manire. [The Weekly Clarion, Jackson, Mississippi, Published November 28, 1872 - Submitted by Debora Reese]


Yet to come, perhaps the darkness of Carroll County will shed some light on some genealogical mysteries. 


My Henry Davis made the History Books, The case of Martha Mason vs. Joshua Hearne

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In the following book: 

Cases at Law Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of North Carolina

 By North Carolina. Supreme Court

there is a case referred to that carries mention of my great-grandpa Davis's grandfather, Henry Davis. Henry Davis, 1806-1862 of Stanly County was the oldest son of Job Davis and the 5th child of his mother, Sarah Winfield Howell Davis. His life was a full spectrum of respect to circumspect. 

The case is that of Martha Mason vs Joshua Hearne. 

The Hearne's were the founding family of Albemarle, North Carolina. In January of 1841, the western half of Montgomery County became Stanly County. The hazards of crossing the Yadkin/PeeDee to get to court and conduct business had cost countless lives and property loss and the citizens of the western side had petitioned to separate the two. Prior to 1800, both counties had been a part of Anson county, to the south. 

To form a new county seat, which would be named 'Albemarle', the Hearne family, who held a great deal of property along Long Creek, near the center of the new county, and a handsome plantation, deeded 51 acres for the new town, upon a hill wading off from the Uwharrie Mountains terrain. A courthouse was built atop the ridge of this hill and First Street ran across the ridge. Main Street ran northeast to southwest, east to a small creek and then up another hill and west to Long Creek, from which another hill rose to the west from there.  
The new town was near the Salisbury - Fayetteville Market road and lay about halfway in between the older town of Salisbury, in Rowan county, and Wadesboro, the county seat of Olde Anson. 

The name Hearne stood prominent in the early records of the newborn county: Joshua Hearne was one of the first Justice's of the Peace, so was Henry Davis. David Hearne was Clerk of Court and Eben Hearne was the first Sheriff. Henry Davis's younger brother, Edward Winfield Davis was the second sheriff of the young county. 



So when, Miss Mason, a single lady of little property, faced off against Joshua Hearne, former Justice and member of the most influential family in Albemarle, it was a David vs. Goliath kind of day. 

The description of the case begins:
"Where A took an abosolute deed for a tract of land from B, then executed an agreement in writing with C., reciting that 'he had a deed for C's land' for which he had paid the purchase money, and therein bound himself to make C. a deed, on her paying back the said purchase money within two years; and it appearing thus, as well as from other facts, that A. was to hold the land merely as a security for his debt.  Held that C., upon her payment of the purchase money, was entitled in this Court, to a reconveyance of the land from A., and to an account of the rents and profits-the time of payment not being of the essence of the contract."

In the above description, we can take it that A referred to Henry Davis, B referred to Joshua Hearne and C referred to Martha Mason. 

Cause removed from the Court of Equity, Stanly County, Fall Term 1852. 

The plaintiff by her bill, filed 11th of February, 1851, alleges that several years since, her father, John Mason,now deceased, contracted with one Henry Davis for a small tract of land at the  price of 50 dollars. That her father, in his lifetime paid Davis a part of the purchase money, to wit $20; and finding himself unable to pay the balance, transferred his claim to the plaintiff, who states that she then made an arrangement with the defendant, by which it was agreed, that he should pay to Davis $30; and become her surety to him in a note for $5.55, the balance due for the land; which arrangement was carried into effect, and the defendant thereupon took a deed to himself for the land and executed the following agreement in writing with the plaintiff:

"No. Carolina, Stanly County, 13th Feb'y., 1843."
"Articles of agreement between myself and Martha Mason."
"I certify that I have a deed to her land for which I paid thirty"
"dollars for the land, on which no lives (sic), 50 acres, which I bind"
"myself to make her a deed for the same, if the said Martha"
"Mason pays me the thirty against the 13th day of February"
"1845.                J Hearne."


Martha Mason goes on to say that she worked for Joshua Hearne 'from time to time', and earned $19.05. She had a statement or invoice to present in court to prove this. She also said that she went to Henry Davis with the note and said she offered to pay Joshua Hearne the amount in the agreement and asked for a conveyance of the land and her told her that it was too late. Miss Mason remained living on the land with her mother, and afterwards, Hearne evicted them from the land and Hearne had "sued out a warrant against her for the rent of the premises".  Joshua Hearne recieved a judgement of $25 for that, and issued a credit to her of $17 for the work and services she had performed for him.  Miss Mason stated that she was not required to pay rent and that the money he owed her should have been applied toward the payment on the land. Then she said that she came to him with tender in the form of gold coins to pay the balance on the land and asked for a conveyance and he 'absolutely refused'. 

Name:Martha Mason
Age:40
Birth Year:abt 1810
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1850:Almonds, StanlyNorth Carolina
Gender:Female
Family Number:439
Household Members:
NameAge
Milla Mason70
Martha Mason40
The 1850 census shows Martha Mason living in the Almond community with 70 year old Milla Mason, undoubtedly her mother. 

Martha Masons 'prayer' for the court was that Mr. Hearne be forced to set up and account and convey to her the land. 

On his part, Joshua Hearne said that he had purchased the land from Henry Davis, but had refused to become a surety for Martha Mason. He admitted to making the agreement with her, but that she failed to pay the $30 within two years. He said after the death of her father, that she had agreed to pay rent on the premises for $5 a year, and that after she defaulted, he did bring her to court and "ejectment against her and evict her from the property'". He sued her and brought a warrant against her for $25 rent and then credited the work she did for him against the judgement, saying he had a right to do so. 

As for refusing legal tender, he said that she did not offer to pay him until the agreement time of two years had expired, and he did refuse the gold, in order to hold onto the land. 

The attorneys were J. H. Bryon for the plaintiff and the defendant did not have an attorney. 

The Honorable J. Pearson decided that Martha Mason was entitled to the relief that she asked for. That the agreement she had made with Henry Davis was merely for a security. He ruled:
"Such being the intention of the parties, that time was not of the essence of the contract of this court.", the intention being merely to create a security. 

"In taking account, the plaintiff will be entitle to credit for the amount paid by her, and also for the profits of the land since the defendant has been in possession, including the amount collected by him under claim of rent."

The original agreement between Henry Davis and the Mason family for the 50 acres in not found in the records of Stanly County, and must have been undertaken prior to Stanly becoming a separate county in 1841. However, the agreement between Joshua Hearne and Henry Davis is recorded in Book 2 Page 83 in the Stanly county deeds. 


The 1870 census of Stanly County shows Martha Mason, age 65, Farmer, living on her little plot of 50 acres. 

ame:Martha Mason
Age in 1870:65
Birth Year:abt 1805
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1870:Almond, StanlyNorth Carolina
Race:White
Gender:Female
Post Office:Albemarle
Value of real estate:View Image
Household Members:
NameAge
Martha Mason65








Whispers of Eliza Winfield Lilly

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Some peoples lives barely creased the paper of Early American records. Eliza M. Winfield Lilly and her son Thomas Winfield Lilly, were two of those individuals. Like the faintest breeze leaving small ripples on a pond, they lived and breathed upon the banks of the Rocky River within the Anson/Montgomery/Stanly County area of North Carolina. If it were not for a small bit of documentation, their names would not be known at all.

However, those small ripples can create a chain reaction of tremendous proportions.

While researching my Great-grandfathers grandfather, Henry Davis, oldest son of Job, I came across a lawsuit in a book that mentioned him. That book was:

Cases at Law Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of North Carolina

 By North Carolina. Supreme Court

I downloaded the ebook and while scanning through, a found a case that involved Henry's first cousin, John Winfield. The case was in Anson County, and true, my family lived on both sides of the river at any point in time. Henry's mother was Sarah Winfield Davis and her only brother was Edward Winfield. Edward had 4 sons, Arthur Freeman, John, Peter and Milton and one daughter, Eliza Ann. 

Arthur Freeman was in the War of 1812 and taking advantage of the land grants, he relocated his family to Perry County, Alabama. John had remained in North Carolina for most of his life, and then in middle age, he relocated to Arkansas. Peter had married Mary "Polly" Goldston of Randolph County and settled on this side of the river, which was Montgomery County in those days and had two small sons. He died in a lumber accident at a young age and his widow married a minister, John Barber, and raised his two sons, John Peter and William in Anson County with their half-siblings. Milton married Mary Ann Pickler and had no children. His widow would marry his first cousin and Henry Davis's younger brother, Marriott Freeman Davis, who was a widower with a young son. They would have no children either. And then there was Eliza M Winfield. My belief is that the "M" stood for Martha and at the end of my post, you will understand why. 

As Eliza M. Winfield died before the 1850 census, the only record of her name was a wedding announcement from the following newspaper:

A big Thank You to Ms. Carolyn Shank for contributing this marriage announcement from the Raleigh Minerva to the Anson County marriage archives.

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Carolyn Shank Carolynshank@msn.com November 8, 2008, 5:04 pm

Raleigh Minerva
Friday, Aug. 29, 1817
MARRIED, on Thursday, on the 7th inst., by the REV. ARMSTEAD LILLY, MR. WM.
LILLY, late of Fayetteville, to MISS ELIZA M. WINFIELD, daughter of EDWARD
WINFIELD, ESQ. of Anson County.

This piece of information tells us a number of things. First, the date of the marriage, August 29, 1817. Second, that the groom, William Lilly, had been residing lately in Fayetteville, which is located in Cumberland County, North Carolina. Second, that the bride, Miss Eliza M Winfield was the daughter of Edward Winfield of Anson County. 

Right away, I knew who Edward Winfield was. He was the only brother of my ggggreat-grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Winfield Howell Davis and the only son of Peter and Charlotte Freeman Winfield. Eliza was his only daughter. In early census records, she was only a dash. Her marriage license was the only document that gave her name. Also, it would be a great probability that the minister, the Rev. Armstead Lilly, was a close relative of the groom, William. 
A look at the early deeds of Cumberland County does not mention William Lilly. Instead, there are many, many documents mentioning Edmund J Lilly, Hannah Lilly and Henry Lilly. Even one involving the Methodist Episcopal Church where Job and Sarah Winfield Davis and Sarah's sons Jordan and John W. Howells sons and their families were members. They were a civic-minded family, donating land to the Fayetteville Female High School, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and donating property to the City Cemetery. And businessmen, involved in the Blounts Creek Manufacturing Company, the Western Railroad Company, the Cross Creek Manufacturing Company, the Beaver Creek and Buff Mills, the Cape Fear Steam Boat Company and the C F & Y V R R Co., or the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley RailRoad Company. 


So, the search was on to find out who William and Armstead Lilly were. It did not take a great deal of searching through our local library to find out that this William and this Armstead, born at the time they were, were sons of John Lilly and Eleanor Dumas Lilly. The Lilly family was very prominent in Montgomery and surrounding counties. The Fayetteville Lilly's were relatives and William had likely gone there to school. In 1817, the year of their marriage, he would have been about 20 years old.

Now, let me trace Eliza as dashes in the early censuses.

Name:Edward Winfield
Home in 1800 (City, County, State):Fayetteville, Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:1
Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15:1
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44:1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:1
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:1
Number of All Other Free Persons:5
Number of Slaves:3
Number of Household Members Under 16:3
Number of Household Members Over 25:2
Number of Household Members:13
In 1800, Eliza would have been the female under 10, meaning she was born between 1790 and 1800.
Name:Edward Winfield
Home in 1810 (City, County, State):Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:2
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:1
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44 :1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15:1
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:1
Numbers of Slaves:13
Number of Household Members Under 16:3
Number of Household Members Over 25:2
Number of Household Members:19
By 1810, all sons had been born, the oldest, Freeman, was head of his own household and about to go to war, and Eliza was the only daughter, the female between 10 and 15, meaning she was born between 1795 and 1800.
Name:Edward Winfield
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):Anson, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:1
Free White Persons - Males - 50 thru 59:1
By 1830, Edward only had one son at home, Milton, as John and Peter were in their own households by then. There where 22 slaves in the household as well.

Name:William Lilly
Home in 1820 (City, County, State):Coppedge, Anson, North Carolina
Enumeration Date:August 7, 1820
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:1
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44:1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25:1
Slaves - Males - Under 14:4
Slaves - Females - 14 thru 25:2
Number of Persons - Engaged in Agriculture:4
Free White Persons - Under 16:1
Free White Persons - Over 25:1
Total Free White Persons:3
Total Slaves:6
Total All Persons - White, Slaves, Colored, Other:9
In the 1820 census, William and Eliza had been married about 3 years. She would have been the female between 16 and 25, meaning she was born between 1795 and 1804. Between the 3 censuses, she was born between 1795 and 1800. There is also a male under 10 in the home. 
William H Lilly
Gender:Male
Spouse:Camilla C Tores
Spouse Gender:Female
Bond Date:11 Jan 1825
Bond #:000126984
Level Info:North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868
ImageNum:008033
County:Rowan
Record #:01 260
Bondsman:Joseph B Ingram
Witness:Hy Giles
In January of 1825, William married Camilla Caroline Torres of Rowan County. Her name sounded Hispanic and it was not difficult to find the family she came from. This meant that Eliza had died by late 1824.

Camilla was the daughter of Benjamin Smith Torres. He was born about 1767 in Middlesex, England to Moses Torres and his wife Sarah who had migrated to England from Portugal. Moses was a Physcian. Benjamin and several of his brothers immigrated to America via Pennsylvania. The 1800 census shows him in Essex, Virginia. By 1810, he is in Rowan County. 
Benjamin Torez
Home in 1810 (City, County, State):Salisbury, Rowan, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:2
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44 :2
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over:1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:2
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over :1
Numbers of Slaves:6
Number of Household Members Under 16:2
Number of Household Members Over 25:4
Number of Household Members:14
Camilla would have been one of the daughters under 10. By 1820, a "Widow Torres" shows up in Salibury as head of household, with two young females in the house besides herself. 

Like alot of Carolina families, the Lilly's decided to pick up and move to Alabama, for reasons unknown. Either there or on the way, William Lilly passed away, because on July 7, 1835, his widow Camilla Caroline married his friend and fellow Montgomery Countian, James Allen. 

Name:James Allen
Age:35
Birth Year:abt 1815
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1850:Russell, Alabama
Gender:Male
Family Number:1025
Household Members:
NameAge
James Allen35
Caroline Allen47
Ellen Allen12
Robert Allen6
Sarah Lilly17
The 1850 census shows the family now in Russell County, Alabama with a daughter that Caroline had with William Lilly, Sarah. 
Caroline would have another son with James Allen after the census, James R. Allen and she would pass in 1851, possibly of childbirth. James Allen would marry a Mary Ann Key in Feb of  1852 and father 8 children with her. He would pass away in Gonzalez, Texas in 1868 at the age of 53. There were as many step-families and non-traditional families then as now, however, the reasons were mostly from early deaths then. 

But back to the legal case that started me on this journey. 

December Term 1852, Anson County, North Carolina

Oscar F. Dudley and wife and others vs John Winfield, Admin, & g. 

The share of an infant in proceeds of real estate sold for patician under a decree of a Court of Equity, descends to the heir upon the death of the person entitled, unless upon arrival of age, he elects to take it as personalty. But the annual interest of such share, goes to the next of kin.

The bill was filed by the Next of Kin of Thomas W. Lilly, deceased, against the defendant as guardian and afterwards administrator, of the said deceased, for account and settlement. ........
One item of charge was the proceeds of certian lands, that had been left to the deceased by his grandfather, and had been sold for partition while he was an infant, under a decree of the Court of Equity in Anson County, and the price thereof paid to the defendant as guardian. It was stated in the bill, and admitted in the answer, that the intestate lived three or four years after he became of age, but the defendant never settled his guardian accounts with him, nor paid over to him his estate or any part thereof. The reason assigned in the answer, of the defendants' having not done so, was that the intestate, "was a man of insane mind, and incapable of making a settlement", but this was stated in answer only and no testimony was offered to prove it. 

John Winfield claim that the proceeds of the sell of the land had been distributed among the heirs at law of Thomas W. Lilly, and that they were different from the next of kin. The ruling was against John Winfield and for Oscar F. Dudley and his wife. The judge did not take into account the state of Thomas W. Lilly's mind, or his abilities and said that the interest of the land since his death should go to the heirs-at-law and that his property "the interest that accrued during the infant's life in personalty, as the profits of the land during that time would have been."

I am not so interested in the case and results of the case, but very interested in the persons involved. 

Thomas W. Lilly only shows up in the census records at one point, in the Mortality Schedule of 1850.

Thomas Lilly
Gender:Male
Place of Birth:North Carolina
Estimated Birth Year:abt 1824
Age:26
Month of Death:Oct
Cause of Death:Fever
Census Year:1850
Census Location:(City, County, State)
Anson, North Carolina
Line:8
Archive Collection Number:M1805
He died of fever in October of 1850. In the column for occupation, his states "None". 

What is very interesting are the few lines directly below Thomas Lilly's listing. 

"John Winfield's Jack, Age 3, Gender Male, Color, B, S (for slave), Occupation: Slave, Month of death, November, Disease or Cause of Death: Sore Throat; Days of Onset  7. 
John Winfield's Ben; Age 1, Gender: Male; Color, B, S, Occupation: Slave (a one year old can have an occupation?), Month of Death: November; Disease of Cause of Death: Sore Throat; Days of Onset 7. 
Again, under the heading John Winfield," Child, Female, color left blank meaning white, as Thomas's entry was also left blank. She also passed in November, disease was listed as 'unknown' and the onset was one day. 

It appears Johns household lost many members at one time. Thomas Lilly was 26 years old. He had suffered with a fever for 21 days before he died. The small children likely caught whatever he had, it possibly had a week or more incubation period and the two little boys died of sore throats, which may have been in the early stages of the disease. John's baby girl only lived a day. She must have been a newborn. 

The information comes together to form a likely scenario. Thomas W. Lilly was born the year before William Lilly married Miss Torres. Eliza may have had a difficult labor and it effected the brain of the child and Thomas was born mildly retarded, 'unable to attend to his own affairs'. William Lilly probably passed him on to John who had a wife and two sons by the time Thomas was born. John would have been his uncle and became his guardian. The grandfather who had left Thomas property was either John Lee in 1825 or Edward Winfield in 1836. Most likely John Lee, because at that time, they may not have realized there was anything wrong with the boy. 

But then the Question arises....who the heck was Oscar F. Dudley and how would he qualify as next of kin? 
I look back at the header of the lawsuit: Oscar F Dudley and Wife.... perhaps Dudley was not the heir at all, perhaps it was his wife. Looking back at William Lilly in 1820 and 1830, there was more than one child in the household. There was a girl.

A google search of Oscar F Dudley brings up an 1850 census of Coosa, Coosa, Alabama. 

308.  Spier         Willis       50 GA  farmer          1600
Julia Ann 42 GA
John 16 AL
Harris 11 AL
Elliott Samuel C. 35 SC physician
Dudley Oscar F. 29 AL teacher
Evelina 20 NC
Ella 1/12 AL
In house number 308, Oscar F. Dudley, aged 29, a teacher, is living with his wife Evelina, who was born in North Carolina, and a one month old daughter named Ella. They are boarding with a farm family along with a Doctor, Samuel C. Elliott. 


Tallapoosa County, Alabama, Marriages - Record Book 2. 1 ISAAC MORRIS and MARY B. SHARP, 1-20-1842, Oscar FDudley, bondsman, Wm. Cox,

In 1842 in Tallapoosa County, Alabama, he acted as bondsman for Isaac Morris and Mary B Sharp's marriage. A Peter Dudley is a Justice of the Peace there. Candidate for a possible relative?

















Oscar F Dudley
Land Office:Cahaba
Document Number:40722
Total Acres:40.1
Signature:Yes
Canceled Document:No
Issue Date:2 Feb 1852
Mineral Rights Reserved:No
Metes and Bounds:No
Statutory Reference:3 Stat. 566
Multiple Warantee Names:No
Act or Treaty:April 24, 1820
Multiple Patentee Names:No
Entry Classification:Sale-Cash Entries
Land Description:1 NENW ST STEPHENS No 21N 13E 2

1852 was a big year for Mr. Dudley. In February he bought 40.1 acres of land. His deed to public lands states that he is Mr. Dudley of Bibb County. 























Name:Oscar F Dudley
Issue Date:2 Feb 1852
Acres:40.1
Meridian:St Stephens
State:Alabama
County:Chilton
Township:21-N
Range:13-E
Section:2
Accession Number:AL1930__.358
Metes and Bounds:No
Land Office:Cahaba
Canceled:No
US Reservations:No
Mineral Reservations:No
Authority:April 24, 1820: Sale-Cash Entry (3 Stat. 566)
Document Number:40722




Bibb County, Alabama Courthouse

 
View original image


A search for Oscar F Dudley of Bibb County, Alabama on Family Search brought up a record of estate papers. The cover was a treasure trove of its own. 

Estate record of Oscar F Dudley
Bibb County   Dudely (sic) Oscar F 1857

O. F. Dudley Estate Papers
Evelina M. Dudley (widow)

Children
Ella Dudley
Sarah Dudley
Laura Dudley

Isabella Church Cemetery

Oscar F. Dudley
1820 - August 7, 1857

O. F. Dudley, Jr.
Son of O. F. and E. M. Dudley
15 Nov. 1857 - 25 Sept. 1885

Sarah G Dudley
13 Jan 1853 - 9 Aug 1857

Laura daughter of (illegible)
27 March 1855 - 22 April 1864

There was a reason I did not find Oscar F Dudley in the 1860 census. He did not make it. 

So he was a teacher. He bought land in 1852. He hauled his happy a-self to Anson County, NC, probably on a train, to sue John Winfield by December. But why?

He had probably married Evelina in 1849. The 1850 census noted that he was from Alabama and she was from North Carolina. They had 4 children in rapid sucession: Ella in 1850, Sarah in 1853, Laura in 1855 and Oscar arrived in 1857, 3 months posthumously. There might have been an illness in the family in 1857, daughter Sara died 2 days after her father. He was only 37.

But what about Evelina, and Ella was not in the cemetery either, what happened to them?

Oscar F Dudley was not in the Civil War, but he took an interest in politics. 
In Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865. Volume III. February 1, 1904.  He was listed as a member of a committe that had been formed in Alabama prior to the war to discuss sucession. genealogybank.com

After the death of Oscar Dudley, it became a bit confusing, but ends up as a story of two brothers. 

I found a marriage license of familysearch.org: On May 30, 1861, J. M. McCary married E. Martha Dudley. 

I found information on J. M. Dudley in another ebook:


A Catalogue from 1834 to 1872 of the Professors, Other Instructors, and ...


 By Tulane University. School of Medicine








"Dr. Jarvis M. McCary, Class of 1858, died of wounds recieved in battle, at Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1864, leg amputated Pyaemia."

In the same book, under "Class of 1858, No. Graduated  68 ", 
is: "Jarvis M. McCary, Elyton, Alabama, Death 1864, Forsyth, Georgia, Wounded at P. A. C. S. at Atlanta, Georgia, Leg Amputated."

It is clear that Jarvis M McCary died in service in the Civil War and that Evalina was left widowed again. Jarvis was not the only member of his family to serve in the Civil War. His father and a few of his brothers did as well. His father made it back alive, and so did his brother Fletcher. It is at this point that some descendants seem to have gotten the two confused. 
The 1850 Bibb County, Alabama has this record: 










Name:S D McCarry
Age:49
Birth Year:abt 1801
Birthplace:South Carolina
Home in 1850:E C River, Bibb, Alabama
Gender:Male
Family Number:908
Household Members:










NameAge
S D McCarry49
Elizabeth McCarry39
James F McCarry18
Jarvis M McCarry16
Martha McCarry13
Mary McCarry11
Frances C McCarry8
Thos R McCarry5
Rufus S McCarry0



 James F McCary and Jarvis M McCary were only two years apart in age.

1860 finds them in these censuses:








Name:J F McCary
Location:Bibb, Alabama
Enumeration Date:18 Aug 1860
Schedule Type:Agriculture
OS Page:43
Line Number:33

Just a few months later, he was picked up again working as an Overseer for for the Crittendon family in Lauderdale County, home of the Kernachans.










Name:J F Mccarry
Age in 1860:24
Birth Year:abt 1836
Birthplace:Alabama
Home in 1860:District 1, Lauderdale, Alabama
Gender:Male
Post Office:Center Hill
Value of real estate:View Image
Household Members:













NameAge
T J Crittenden39
Octava C Crittenden36
Ildefons Crittenden11
Prudence Ann Crittenden9
Joshua Crittenden7
Elisabeth Crittenden5
Lilly Crittenden2
Benjamen F Crittenden13
William H Crittenden10
Moses H Crittenden9
Martin Carrey18
J F Mccarry24


His brother, Dr. J.M. McCary is to be found in Autauga County, residing at the residence of a blacksmith named Lewis Jones, his profession listed as Physician and a woman who name is nearly illegible living with him. It ends in "Line" at least. 











Name:J M Mccary
Age in 1860:26
Birth Year:abt 1834
Birthplace:Alabama
Home in 1860:Kingston, Autauga, Alabama
Gender:Male
Post Office:Kingston
Value of real estate:View Image
Household Members:












NameAge
Lewis Jones60
Eliza Jones48
John M Jones21
Samuel Jones17
Susan Jones12
David Jones13
Elizabeth Jones10
Mary Jones5
B F Durden26
J M Mccary26
Hurhline Mccary20



Fold3 carries very specific and divergent military records for the two brothers. 

Pg 1: J. M. McCary  Company E, 53 Alabama Partisan Rangers: Private 

Pg 2: Muster Roll: Oct. 31, 1862 Present

Pg 3: Enlisted: August 26, 1862 Independence, Alabama
By Captain Davis , Present, Bounty Due, Detailed as Physician

Pg 4 Montgomery, Alabama, Jan 15, 1863  Remarks:
       "  Recieved fifty dollars in full for my Bounty".

Pg 5: Muster roll dated June 15, 1863 Independence, Alabama
           Present

          Paid by Capt J. C. Dickerson Dec 31, 1863  Present

Pg 6 Register of Officers and Soldiers of the Confederate States who were killed in battle or who died of wounds or disease:

Jas. M. McCary  Co E 53 Regiment
When deceased: August 29, 1864
Hosp. Forsyth, GA

The Physcian in the family clearly died of wounds during the Civil War. 

The Record of his brother, however reads a little differently.





James F Mccarry
Side:Confederate
Roll:M598_91
Roll Title:Selected Records of the War Department Relating to Confederate Prisoners of War, 1861-1865

There is a record of a James F McCary held as a prisoner of war in Tennesee on ancestry.com

The Fold3 records read thus:

Pg 1: James F McCary  Company H 44 Alabama Infantry
          note at bottom: see also James Edwards
Pg 2: James F. McCary, Pvt. Co H, 44
          enlisted: May 12, 1862 by F. M. Goode, Bibb County, Alabama
          Period: 3 years
          Remarks: Discharged by a substite, James Edwards
Pg 3 Muster roll June 1 - Oct 31, 1862 
         Present or Absent: Absent , Substituted by James Edwards
Pg 4 Nov & Dec 1862, Present or Absent: Absent and substitute James Edwards at home on 
         furlough Bibb Co. Alabama. 
Pg 5 Jany & Feb 1863 Remarks: Substituted by James Edwards and James Edwards absent without leave in Bibb County, Alabama.
Pg 6 April 1863. James Edwards is still AWOL
Pg 7 

I had discovered the trail of Evalina Dudley McCary, but not yet discovered her maiden name. I was hoping to find the death certificate of a child that would give that information, or some information from a descendant who knew. Then I found:
CSA Military Men of Central Alabama by

mv_wright@yahoo.com

McCary, James Fletcher December 05, 1831 May 31, 1864 Dudley, E. Martha CSA, Pvt, Co H, 44th Ala. Inf. Enlisted at Bibb Co by F.M. Goode May 12, 1862


McCary, Jarvis M. February 06, 1834 May 31, 1864 Unknown, Evaline N. 'Lilly' CSA, died of wounds in 1864


and their younger brother, Thomas, who died in an Old Soldiers home, single.


McCary, Thomas R. 1847 January 1930 CSA, Pvt, Co B, 20th Ala. Inf. Enlisted Oct 10, 1863.

At first glance, it would appear to be two separate wives, and I first thought that perhaps Martha Dudley might have been a sister to Oscar F. Dudley and that is how Evalina met Dr. McCary. More digging uncovered that fact that E. Martha Dudley and Evalina 'M' Lilly were one and the same. When she married Dr. Jarvis M. McCary, she was the widow Dudley. When she married his brother, her maiden name came to light. 

The dates of James Fletcher McCary's death were incorrect, however. He was again confused with his brother, they did not die on the same day. He did enlisted, but sent a substitute who went AWOL. In fact, there is no record that James Fletcher McCary served one day in battle at all, personally.
The following newspaper article mentions Mrs. J. Fletcher McCary. It was not referring to Evalina, however, but the son of Mr. Fletcher, Sr. and herself, Mattie Smith McCary:
The Roanoke Leader April 1911
NEWSPAPER ABSTRACTS FROM "THE ROANOKE LEADER", Roanoke, Randolph County,
Alabama for APRIL 1911
NEWSPAPER issue of Wednesday, April  5, 1911

MR. J.A.W. SMITH TAKES OWN LIFE; Former Randolph County Man Shoots Himself in
Birmingham, Ill Health the Cause - - - Birmingham, March 29th

John Anthony Winston Smith, a prominent lawyer in Birmingham, was found dying
about 11:45 o'clock yesterday in the law office of Julius W. Davidson, third
floor of the Woodward building, as the result of a bullet wound behind the
right ear which it is supposed was self inflicted. Death occurred at 1:10 p.m.

Mr. Smith was about 55 years of age and a widower and leaves a mother and one
daughter in Birmingham. He was a son of Governor W.H. Smith who was governor
during the period from 1868 to 1870 and was himself at one time widely known
in politics, having run for governor on the republican ticket in 1903.

His daughter is Mrs. Ida Fillanon of Birmingham. His four sisters are Misses
Annie and Lula Smith, Mrs. Mary West, Mrs. J. Fletcher McCary of Birmingham; a
brother Wm. Smith his law partner survives, and a nephew Will West.

Mr. Smith was born in Wedowee and moved to Birmingham 19 years ago. Mr. Smith
had been in bad health for some time recently and his friends stated that this
was the cause of the act.
It is through the sons of Evalina Lilly that we learn more of her families existence. 
McCary Homestead
From:

Notable Men of Alabama: Personal and Genealogical, Volume 2

 edited by Joel Campbell DuBose


"James H McCary , a merchant of Birmingham, and a most dillegent worker on behalf of the cities welfare, was born in Maplesville, Chilton County, Alabama, March 11, 1862 (this would have been during Evalina's marriage to the younger brother, Dr. Jarvis M. McCary, who died in 1864). his father Jarvis Fletcher McCary, was a native of that county and a merchant  (note: Jarvis's middle initial was 'M' and he was a physcian, not a merchant. Older brother James Fletcher McCary was a merchant. Here, the author has confused the two brothers.),. He was a member of the twentieth Alabama regiment, CSA and was wounded at the battle of Resaca, Georgia, and died in a hospital at Macon. He was the son of St. Clair D. McCary and wife Elizabeth (Atkinson). (Note: Actual records have the name as Sinclair David McCary), natives of South Carolina, who went to Chilton County during the 1820's and purchased land of the Indians. The great-grandfather was in the war of 1812. (note: Sinclair David McCary was born about 1800 in Edgecombe, South Carolina. He was the son of Richard Dudley McCary, born in 1763 in Amherst, Virginia and died April 28, 1858 in Isney, Choctaw, Alabama. He was a Revolutionary War Patriot and recieved a bounty land warrant.) Mr. McCary's mother was Evalina M. Lilly McCary. The education of Mr. McCary was in the common schools of his county, finishing his course at the Polytechnic Institute at Auburn, Alabama. On leaving school in 1883, he selected Birmingham, Alabama as his home, where he engaged in the business of merchandise broker.

The article goes on to record his accomplishments. As a wholesale grocer and produce dealer, proprietor of J H McCary and Co, President of the Board of Trade, Member of the Board of Police Commissioners, Director of the Building and Loan Association, organized the Birmingham National Bank and was the youngest bank director in the country at that time in 1888. He was a staunch democrat and a Methodist, as my family has been up until my grandfather, who passed in 1997, and many still are. J. H. McCary was president of the board of Elks, a Knight of Pythias, a member of the Ancient Order of  United Workman.  He was a Lieut. in the state militia and organizer of the Jefferson volunteers. He married a local girl, Frances Nabors in 1888 and had 4 children: William, James H. Jr, Helen and Carolyn. 



FROM ALABAMA DEPT ARCHIVES & HISTORY


BIBB COUNTY AL, MCCARY RICHARD, AGED 81, AND A RESIDENT OF BIBB COUNTY, PRIVATE, VIRGINIA CONTINENTAL LIND; ENROLLED ON JUNE 12, 1819, UNDER ACT OF CONGRESS OF MARCH 18, 1818, PAYMENT TO DATE FROM MAY 3, 1819, ANNUAL ALLOWANCE, $96; SUMS RECEIVED TO DATE OF PUBLICATION OF LIST, $1,497.31; TRANSFERRED FROM EDGEFIELD DISTRICT, S.C. FROM MARCH 4, 1827, 23rd CONGRESS, 1ST SESS, 1833-34. ALSO RESIDED IN WASHINGTON COUNTY.--PENSION BOOK, STATE BRANCH BANK, MOBILE.

 The above is the pension record of Richard Dudley McCary (and there is that name Dudley again, probably not a coincidence). The following book had almost the same history of James H. McCary, except that it was followed by a story on his grandfather. :



History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Volume 4




By Thomas McAdory Owen, Mrs. Marie (Bankhead) Owen
 
Still insisting that his "great" grandfather was in the War of 1812, they nonetheless report on his grandfather "Richard McCary, soldier of the American Revolution, 81, and a resident of Bibb County, private Virginia Continental line, transferred from Edgefield District, South Carolina....

Then, there is this report: 

MCCARY, JAMES H. is a representative of the class of educated Alabamians of the new era. Born March, 1862, when the war between the States was in its earliest stages, his whole life has been spent under the social influences into which he has so largely entered to shape.






Mr. McCary is a native of Chilton County, Alabama, the son of James F. and E. M. McCary, nee Lily. After passing through the common schools he completed his studies in the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College at Auburn. For six years thereafter he was employed as clerk in the Hotel Jackson, at Blount Springs. In September, 18S3, he came to Birmingham, to engage as clerk in the Relay House. In 1884 he entered mercantile life in Birmingham as a grocer. In 1886 he formed a partnership with E. L. Higdon in the wholesale fruit and produce line. This business has been distinguished by rapid growth. The firm occupy a large and handsome building on Morris Avenue, the leading wholesale street, and perhaps the best in its line in the South. They do a large and increasing business along the trunk lines of railroads leading out of the city.


Mr. McCary is one of the directors of the Birmingham National Bank, owns valuable real estate in Birmingham, and blocks of many of the best local stocks in the market. He owns valuable agricultural lands in the Valley of the Mississippi, situated in the State of Mississippi. He is a Knight of Pythias, and a worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church Sunday school, of which church he is a member.   Source: Jefferson County and Birmingham, Alabama: Historical and Biographical, 1887, Author:  John Witherspoon Dubose. Submitted by C. Anthony

Being a big wheel in Birmingham, during the time period in which he was, it is easy to tell the clay that formed Mr. McCary. He was a Winfield and a Lilly, as well, after all. 

Link to the Descendants of Richard McCary. 

While older brother James H. McCary is making the news and joining every civic organization known to man, his younger brother, Jarvis Fletcher McCary is of a different vent. 




East Lake Land Owner is Killed Birmingham, Ala, May 13










Date: Wednesday, May 14, 1919  






Paper: Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL)










Birmingham, Alabama, May 13. 


J. Fletcher McCary, a prominent land owner and mineral water proprietor near East Lake, was shot and killed and Grover C. Parker, a dairyman, was fatally wounded this afternoon, when the men quarreled over some cows which had broken through the fence into McCary's pasture. 





And that was the jist of the article. 





 




In the Descendants of James T. Atkinson on Rootsweb.com, a listing of the McCary's mother's line is made:





Children of ELIZABETH ATCHISON and SINCLAIR MCCARY are: 




23.i.NANCY ELIZABETH3 MCCARY, b. September 06, 1829; d. March 08, 1917.
ii.JAMES FLETCHER MCCARY, b. December 05, 1831, AL; d. May 31, 1864 (Source: Cemeteries of Chilton by Benjamin D. Roberts, page 311, McCary, J.F. 1831-12-5 1864-5-31.); m. E. MARTHA DUDLEY; b. April 21, 1838; d. July 20, 1862.



More About JAMES FLETCHER MCCARY:
Burial: Unknown, Isabella Methodist Church Cemetery, Chilton Co. AL
Military: May 12, 1862, CSA, Pvt, Co H, 44th Ala. Inf. Enlisted at Bibb Co by F.M. Goode May 12, 1862 (Source: Yours, Mine and Theirs, A listing of Civil War Soldiers connected with Chilton Co. AL by Ben Roberts w/ Nell Thomas, Betty Collins & John D. Glasscock, page 90.)
Occupation: 1861, Storekeeper and postmaster at Old Benson in 1861
Other-Begin: Aft. May 12, 1862, Discarged by substitute-James Edwards. (Source: Yours, Mine and Theirs, A listing of Civil War Soldiers connected with Chilton Co. AL by Ben Roberts w/ Nell Thomas, Betty Collins & John D. Glasscock, page 90.)
Other (2): Reference says he is buried at Mulberry Baptist Cemtery. (Source: Yours, Mine and Theirs, A listing of Civil War Soldiers connected with Chilton Co. AL by Ben Roberts w/ Nell Thomas, Betty Collins & John D. Glasscock, page 90.)




24.iii.JARVIS M. MCCARY, b. February 06, 1834, Chilton Co. AL; d. May 31, 1864, Macon, GA during Civil War.
iv.MARTHA MCCARY, b. April 24, 1838, AL; d. July 20, 1862 (Source: Cemeteries of Chilton by Benjamin D. Roberts, page 311, McCary, Martha 1838-4-24 1852-7-20 Dau/S.D. and E. McCary. Sleep on dear Mattie. You shall flourish and bloom in a spring of cassia in eternal Day.).



More About MARTHA MCCARY:
Burial: Unknown, Isabella Methodist Church Cemetery, Chilton Co. AL
Census: 1860, Bibb Co. AL, Household #1264, age 21, domestic




25.v.MARY ANN MCCARY, b. 1839, AL; d. March 13, 1908.
vi.FRANCES C. MCCARY, b. 1842; d. Unknown; m. RICHARD GARNER; d. Unknown.



More About FRANCES C. MCCARY:
Census: 1860, Bibb Co. AL, Household #1264, age 15



More About RICHARD GARNER:
Address (Facts Page): Their home in Bibb Co. AL was later known as the Luther LeCroy Place.

If you will notice, they do have James Fletcher McCary listed as a storekeep and postmater. However, they have
E. Martha McCary listed as dying May 20, 1862. Then just a few lines down, they also have the Fletcher brothers sister, Martha "Mattie" McCary dying on the exact same date. Someone took the date off the tombstone for the single Mattie and assumed it was Evalina. However, when they went to research Mattie, they did not catch their mistake. 

Evalina Martha Lilly Dudley McCary did not die. Not yet. 





Although her son became a rather important fellow, Evalina and her other children virtually disapear for 20 years. With the exception of the marriage license in Bibb County, I can not find her in the 1870 census. She shows back up in 1880, however. 

















E.M. Mccary
Age:45
Birth Year:abt 1835
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1880:Beat 3, Sharkey, Mississippi
Race:White
Gender:Female
Relation to Head of House:Mother
Marital Status:Widowed
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Neighbors:View others on page
Occupation:Housekeeper

Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:




Household Members:






NameAge
O.F. Dudley22
E.M. Mccary45
J.F. Mccary15
E.A. Dudley24
S.S. Baggett67



Her older son, Oscar F. Dudley, Jr. is still alive and acting as the Head of Household. They are living in Sharkey County, Mississippi. This is perhaps where son James H. McCary has bought land that is mentioned in the above article. He is at school at this time and younger brother Jarvis Fletcher is still a teen. E. A. Dudley would be her firstborn daughter, Ella, who had not died yet. 

Map of Mississippi highlighting Sharkey County






















J H Mccary
Age:38
Birth Date:Mar 1862
Birthplace:Alabama
Home in 1900:Birmingham Ward 7, Jefferson, Alabama
[Jefferson] 
Race:White
Gender:Male
Relation to Head of House:Head
Marital Status:Married
Spouse's Name:Francis Mccary
Marriage Year:1889
Years Married:11
Father's Birthplace:Alabama
Mother's Name:Evelyn Mccary
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Occupation:View on Image
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:










NameAge
J H Mccary38
Francis Mccary32
William Mccary10
Henry J Mccary8
Helen Mccary15
Evelyn Mccary70
Ella W Mccary32
Lizzie Bears45
Beaula More



Jump ahead another 20 years and Evalina (Evelyn here) is living with James H. McCary and his wife and 3 children in Birmingham. Ella W McCary must be oldest daughter Ella, who was not a McCary, and her age is wrong as well.
Evalina appears in several Birmingham City Directories. 

For instance, the 1914 Directory has the following McCary's listed:

McCary, 

Evelyn E (widow JF) 1217 S 20th
Helen 1217 S 20th ....daughter of James H. 
James H. (Fanny N) real estate 26 N. 19th, 1217 S 20th (note: Frances Nabors McCary)
James H. Jr slsman, J H McCary b 1217 S 20th (meaning he was working as a salesman for his father)
J. Fletcher (Mattie S. ) mfrs agent 1121 Empire Bldg h s S Kings Hwy 1 east of Vanderbuilt Road. 
J Fletcher Jr. slsmn J. F McCary  b J F McCary
Wm H student b J F McCary (this is William Henry McCary)
Wm N ins. b 1217 s 20th.

But a final record on Evalina states where she was born:












Evelena M McCarey
Birth Date:abt 1829
Birth Place:Fayetteville, N. C.
Death Date:8 Nov 1912
Death Place:Bessemer, Jefferson, Alabama
Death Age:83
Race:White
Marital Status:Widowed
Gender:Female
FHL Film Number:1894094

Fayetteville. Eliza and William must have returned there after their marriage. 
As for Ella, she is in the 1896 City Directory for Birmingham,


Wednesday, September 3, 1902  



Paper: Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, AL) Miss Ella Dudley of Mobile is visiting Mrs. Charley Joseph. 




She was visiting Mrs. Joseph again in 1904 and helping give a few bridal showers and other items on the society pages. 

 So, Evalina had no apparent Dudley descendants, as Oscar Jr. died as a young man, and Ella apparently never married. 

So in summary, the descendants of Eliza M (Martha?) Winfield were:

Thomas W (Winfield?) Lilly b 1824 d 1850
Evalina Martha Lilly abt 1829 -1912

m Oscar F Dudley

children: Ella A. Dudly
               Sarah G Dudly
               Laura Dudley
               Oscar F Dudley, Jr. 

m Jarvis M McCary
    son James Henry McCary 

m James Fletcher McCary
    son Jarvis Fletcher McCary

James Henry McCary m Frances Nabors
          William Nabors McCary m Nell M Moore  son William Moore "Billy" McCary
           James Henry McCary Jr. m Edith Orr  son James Henry McCary III
           Helen McCary m Wiley Perry Ballard  sons Wiley P Ballard, Jr, McCary Ballard
           Carolyn M McCary    

Jarvis Fletcher McCary m Martha "Mattie" Simmons Smith
       children:
        Jarvis Fletcher McCary Jr. b 1893
        William Hugh McCary b 1894

In ending, the following is a sad post about Billy McCary, great-grandson of Evalina Lilly McCary, who was a Navy Musician and died during the sinking of the USS Arkansas. 











WILLIAM MOORE MCCARY - Birmingham, AL (MUSICIAN 2) WWII

William Moore McCary
Name:MCCARY, WILLIAM MOORE
Service Branch:NAVY
Rank:MUSICIAN 2
Date of Death:N A
Hostile:Kia
Home of Record City/County:Birmingham
Home of Record State:Alabama
Conflict:William Moore McCary MCCARY, William M. MUS2c "Swede" Age 17, Shades Mountain, AL,

http://www.ussarizona.org/
WWII

USS Arizona Band
Bandmaster: Fredrick W. Kinney, MUS1c 

Frank Norman Floege "Flat-Foot Floogie"
Oran Merrill Brabbzson "Buttercup"
Ernest Hubert Whitson, Jr. "Ernie"
Wayne Lynn Bandy "Buck"
Neal Jason Radford "Brick"
Jack Leo Scruggs "Scrooge" 
Curtis Junior Haas "Curt"
Gerald Clinton Cox "Jerry"
Charles William White "Whitey"
Emmett Isaac Lynch "Rusty"
William Starks Morehouse "Killer"
Clyde Richard Williams "Oklmugee"
Ralph Warren Burdette "Chowhound"
Robert Kar Shaw "Peepee"
Bernard Thomas Hughes "Bee"
William Moore McCary "Swede"
Wendell Ray Hurley "Lady-Killer"
James Harvey Sanderson "Sandy"
Alexander Joseph Nadel "Alexander The Swooze"

A Great American Lady: Frances E. Goff

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Frances E. Goff was one of Job's Children. The following is the train of descent:

Job Davis (1773-1852) and Sarah Winfield Davis (1773-1856) both born in Mecklenburg County, Virginia and died in Stanly County, North Carolina.

Henry Davis (1806-1862) and Martha Palmer Davis (1815-1877) Stanly County, North Carolina. 

Martha J. Davis Ingram (Dec 27 1844 Stanly County, North Carolina to March 20, 1885 Rusk County, Texas and Joseph Alexander Ingram (1846 Anson County, North Carolina to January 3, 1933, Kenedy, Karnes County, Texas).

William Henry Ingram (Nov 1869 to 1910 Kenedy, Karnes, Texas) and Annie Elizabeth Parker Ingram (1874 - November 19 1954, Karnes County, Texas)
Annie E. Ingram

Henry Ingram and Annie Parker were married in 1893. They had 2 children before Henry passed away in 1902. They may have had 3. An infant grave for a Wincy Ingram, born in 1901 and died in 1902 is in the Kenedy Cemetery in Kenedy, Karnes, Texas along with Henry, his father Joseph A. Ingram and other members of the Ingram family. She may have been his daughter. 
Joseph A. Ingram

William Henry Ingram, Jr. was born May 18, 1894 in Karnes County and died Oct 12 1942. He married Hazel David Alexander and had one daughter, Madelyn, born in 1926.

Grace Elizabeth Ingram was born February 12, 1898 in Karnes County, Texas. She also had one daughter, Frances Elizabeth Goff. 
Grace Ingram
[Grace Ingham] 
Age:4
Birth Date:Feb 1896
Birthplace:Texas
Home in 1900:Justice Precinct 4, Karnes, Texas
Race:White
Gender:Female
Relation to Head of House:Daughter
Marital Status:Single
Father's Name:William H Ingram
Father's Birthplace:Texas
Mother's Name:Annie E Ingram
Mother's Birthplace:Texas
Occupation:View on Image
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
William H Ingram30
Annie E Ingram26
William H Ingram6
Grace Ingram4
Sarah H Parker18

Gracie Ingram
Age in 1910:14
Birth Year:abt 1896
Birthplace:Texas
Home in 1910:Kenedy, Karnes, Texas
Race:White
Gender:Female
Relation to Head of House:Daughter
Marital Status:Single
Parent's Name:Annie Ingram
Father's Birthplace:Texas
Mother's Birthplace:Texas
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Annie Ingram34
Willie Ingram16
Gracie Ingram14
Gracie is shown with both parents, brother Henry and Aunt Sarah in 1900. In 1910, Annie is a single parent. 

Grace married Alfred T. Goff, sometime before 1917 and was divorced from him by 1920, and living back with her mother and brother, with her young daughter, Francis. 

Grace Ingram
[Grace Sageman] 
Age:23
Birth Year:abt 1897
Birthplace:Texas
Home in 1920:Kenedy, Karnes, Texas
Race:White
Gender:Female
Relation to Head of House:Daughter
Marital Status:Divorced
Parent's Name:Annie E Ingram
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:Texas
Able to Read:Yes
Able to Write:Yes
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Annie E Ingram45
Willie H Ingram25
Grace Ingram23
Francis Goff3
[25] 
Sometime, shortly afterward, Grace married Graddis Grover Stripling. She passed away on June 28, 1929 at the age of 31.

Alfred T Goff would go on to marry Elizabeth Nave in 1923. He and his second wife would live in San Antonio, Texas. City Directories had him listed as an agent at the Magnolia Pet Company and later as a Traffic Manager. The 1940 census has Alfred and his wife Elizabeth living alone, and his occupation as Retail Sales Manager. 

Alfred lived a long life, and passed away in 1971 at the age of 78 . He was divorced again by then, and the reason became clear in the papers of his daughter. 

Alfred Goff
Death Date:21 Apr 1971
Death County:Bexar
Gender:Male
Marital Status:Separ/divorced (Divorced)
Frances Goff
[Frances Gaff] 
Gender:Female
Birth Year:abt 1917
Birthplace:Texas
Race:White
Home in 1930:Kenedy, Karnes, Texas
View Map
Marital Status:Single
Relation to Head of House:Granddaughter
Father's Birthplace:Texas
Mother's Birthplace:Texas
Occupation:

Education:

Military service:

Rent/home value:

Age at first marriage:

Parents' birthplace:
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Annie Ingram56
Frances Goff13
Charles Crouch45
But what about young Frances. In 1930, she was living with her maternal grandmother, Annie. Her mother had died the previous year. 
Frances Goff
Respondent:Yes
Age:23
Estimated Birth Year:abt 1917
Gender:Female
Race:White
Birthplace:Texas
Marital Status:Single
Relation to Head of House:Granddaughter
Home in 1940:San Antonio, Bexar, Texas
View Map
Street:Rigsby Avenue
House Number:720
Inferred Residence in 1935:Kenedy, Kansas, Texas
Residence in 1935:Kenedy, Kansas, Texas
Resident on farm in 1935:No
Sheet Number:6B
Occupation:Private Secretary
Industry:Lawyer
Attended School or College:No
Highest Grade Completed:High School, 4th year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census:44
Class of Worker:Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939:44
Income:1000
Income Other Sources:No
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
P R Goff73
Ida Goff69
Frances Goff23
By 1940, Frances is residing with her paternal grandparents and is working as a private secretary for an attorney. And shortly after, she joined the Armed Services, as a stenographer. WWII had began and this outstanding young lady went to serve. 



Frances E Goff
Birth Year:1916
Race:White, citizen (White)
Nativity State or Country:Texas
State of Residence:Texas
County or City:Tarrant
Enlistment Date:22 Jun 1944
Enlistment State:Texas
Enlistment City:Camp Swift Bastrop
Branch:Womens Army Corps
Branch Code:Womens Army Corps
Grade:Private
Grade Code:Private
Term of Enlistment:Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component:Womens Army Corps
Education:1 year of college
Civil Occupation:Stenographers and typists
Marital Status:Single, without dependents

On June 22, 1944, Frances Goff enlisted in the Women's Army Corps (WAC) as a private... By early September 1944, she was assigned to the WAC detachment at the Fifth Ferrying Group of the Air Transport Command at Love Field in Dallas... Her duties included a brief stint in Washington, D.C. at the headquarters of the Transport Command in the months before she left the military... Her discharge from the WACs was dated July 2, 1946... For the patriotic Goff, her years in the Army Air Corps were some of the most rewarding of her life. (From Texas, Her Texas: The Life and Times of Frances Goff by Nancy Beck Young adn Lewis L. Gould)



Frances Elizabeth Goff served her country in more ways than one. She took on 3 careers during her lifetime and made great strides in each one. She had a book written about her, 
Texas, Her Texas: The Life and Times of Frances Goff dust jacket
TEXAS, HER TEXAS
The Life and Times of Frances Goff
By Nancy Beck Young and Lewis L. Gould
Forward by Ann Richards
Barker Texas History Center Series, no. 6
Don E. Carleton, editor
Texas State Historical Association
240 pages, 6 x 9 inches
75 illustrations, index
ISBN 0-87611-159-2, cloth
1997

Texas, Her Texas is the fascinating story of Frances Goff and her three remarkable careers: in Texas government as legislative aide and state budget director; at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; and as director of the Bluebonnet Girls State Program of the American Legion Auxilliary. Based on Goff’s personal papers and interviews with those who knew her, the book provides inside glimpses of such leaders in state politics as Coke Stevenson, Allan Shivers, and Ann Richards. The fast-paced narrative also describes the founding and early years of M. D. Anderson and Goff’s key role as an aide to Dr. R. Lee Clark in building this world-renowned cancer treatment facility.
At the core of the book is the Bluebonnet Girls State Program, an annual citizenship session for young Texas women that Goff directed for four decades. More than twenty-thousand high school girls experienced Goff’s charismatic leadership and took to heart her message of public service and involvement. Texas, Her Texas makes a major contribution to a better understanding of how this voluntary women’s group is shaping present-day Texas.
Frances Goff knew the movers and shakers of Texas and became one herself. Goff’s biography will inspire those who knew her and those who are learning about her for the first time. She was, says Ann Richards, a "grand lioness of a woman."
Nancy Beck Young is a professor of history at the University of Houston.
Lewis L. Gould is the Eugene C. Barker Centennial Professor Emeritus in American History at the University of Texas at Austin.
She is listed in the Texas Hall of Fame:



What in the life of this great-granddaughter of Stanly County Justice and rogue Methodist, Henry Davis, brought about this quest for public service and led from a child of divorce, during the early part of the twentieth century, when divorce was rare and shameful, this girl who was raised by her various grandparents and became a member of  The Greatest Generation, to join the military at a time when women were kept out of most areas, and to become the honored friend of polictical movers and shakers, to have a book written about her, and foundations established in her name?

Frances graduated from the San Antonio business college in 1937. This was just before she was shown in the 1940 census living with her paternal grandparents, Percy Robert Goff, who was born in England, and his wife Ida Riedel, a Texas native. She was shown as being a secretery for an attorney. Records show that before joining the Service, where she obtained the rank of Sergeant Major, she had worked in the Texas House of Representatives, the State Senate, the Office of the Governor and also on the Texas Railroad Commission. 

Then came the World War II. As a young woman with a rising career, she left all of that behind and served for two years, between 1944 and 1946. She used her office skills for the Commander of Love Field in Dallas, Texas and also worked in Washington, DC in the Air Transport Command HeadQuarters. 

After the war, she went back to work for the Governors Office. At the suggestion of then Governor Allan Shivers, she changed careers and became an Assistant to Dr. R. Lee Clark at the Univeristy of Texas. Dr. Clark was the President and Director of Special Projects for Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, one the foremost centers for cancer research at the time. 

Frances was over planning, development and fundraising. In such a capacity, she encountered many families for whom hope was slim and faith was strong. A year after beginning this career, she took on a lifelong volunteer activity. 

The American Legion Auxiliary was established in 1919 to administer many volunteer programs and aid the American Legion. It's the world's largest women's volunteer organization. 

The Bluebonnet Girls is a program of the American Legion Auxiliary. From 1952 to 1994, Frances was the director of this program. She planned and promoted the "Model Citizenship Program" for the Bluebonnet Girls State. 

Among the honors bestowed upon Frances were the Ameican Legion National Commendation Award, she was inducted into the Texas Hall of Fame for outstanding volunteerism, the Valley Forge Freedom Foundation Award, a scholarship was established in her name at the University of Texas in Austin. Also, 
Governor Ann Richards named her as State Chair of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation Inc. 

A Collection of her papers are stored at the Brisco Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin. 

A Guide to the Frances Goff Papers, 1914-1994

These papers are extensive. While they are informative and have mention of many of the political players of her day, they also give a glimpse into the personal life of this incredible lady, that the book does not. 

The following is the Biographical prequel to the collection. 

Frances Goff of Kenedy, Texas, began her career in 1937 as secretary to a Texas state legislator, became secretary to Governor W. Lee O'Daniel after his re-election in 1940, worked for the House Appropriations Committee in 1941, and was appointed the first personnel director of the Texas Railroad Commission. In 1944 she enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, rising to the rank of sergeant major before her release and return to Austin in 1946, when she was named State Budget Director and assisted in writing the bill creating the Legislative Budget Board. In 1951 she was hired by Dr. R. Lee Clark, director of the newly-created M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in Houston as his assistant and soon became director of special projects, overseeing the hospital's construction and supervising every expansion from 1951-1978. During the same period Goff became involved with the American Legion Auxiliary's education program, Texas Bluebonnet Girls' State and became the program's director in 1952. She retired from M. D. Anderson in 1982 and died in 1994.


Among the more interesting parts of the papers are letters written to and from Robert Barnnett, wherein she takes exception to his inquiring of her whereabouts and also some revealing information and interesting closings to the letters. 

Her personal documents include a copy of her parents October, 1915 marriage license, with her July 1916 birth certificate, personal letters from a "Bill", a copy of an inspiring speech that her mother Grace gave at Frances's High School graduation, a 1924 letter from Frances to her mother Grace, and stepfather, G. G. Stripling, where she would have been only 8 years old, childhood letters from Frances to mother Grace, and grandmother Annie, whom she called "Big Momma" and from Grace to Annie. 

Box 2 contains, among other things, letters written between Frances and her grandmother Annie after the death of Grace in 1929, and a telegram of condolence from her father. There is also the funeral program of her uncle William Henry Ingram, Jr. in  1943. One letter is described as "a wonderfully vivid account of why Frances preferred to live in Center over Kenedy", 


There are scrapbook of her war days and of friends in the American Legion. 

Box 3 is of particular interest. While there are records of the estate of her father, who passed away in 1971, and other business items of her father, one description was of particular interest. 

Material, chronologically ordered, that pertains to property held by A.T. Goff and his Mr. G. Garcia; Mr. Goff's share of this property passed to Frances upon his death in 1971; this folder also contains Mr. Goff's health insurance records; land deeds for property Mr. Goff owned in Kenedy, as well as correspondence between lawyers and interested persons, 1928-1940.

Alfred Thomas Goff had married Gracie Elizabeth Ingram in October of 1915. They had divorced shortly aferward, by 1920, both are listed as divorced. 
Alfred T Goff
Age:26
Birth Year:abt 1894
Birthplace:Texas
Home in 1920:Alice, Jim Wells, Texas
Race:White
Gender:Male
Relation to Head of House:Boarder
Marital Status:Divorced
Father's Birthplace:England
Mother's Birthplace:Texas
Able to Read:Yes
Able to Write:Yes
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Parks Childress52
[53] 
[33] 
Lottie Childress38
Schuman Childress4
[4 11/12] 
John East35
Alfred T Goff26
J P Murphy28
Alfred is listed as age 26 and working as a clerk at a Railroad Office. 

He married Elizabeth Nave in 1923 at the age of 30. There would be no children. Apparently, Alfreds "Mr. Garcia" held a close personal spot in Alfred's life and may be the reason for his brief marriages and lack of other children. The era in which Alfred Goff lived in was far less than accepting. 

Frances, despite never marrying, had many relationships over the years and her correspondence collection verifies that. She was beloved. Most of her records have to do the the American Legion and the girls in her program. 

One such folder is described as "

12. Loose leaf ring binder entitled, "A Tribute to Miss Goff." Material includes: newspaper tributes; short biographies, listing Frances's many accomplishments; 1986 material pertaining to Frances's nomination to the Texas Women's Hall of Fame, with many letters of recommend- ations, including one from Ann Richards; 1985 letters of recommendation for Frances to be chosen for a Freedoms Foundation Award; pictures of Frances in action; a copy of Goff's Prayer; a copy of Frances's honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, 1946; 1985 letter from Governor Mark White, recommending Frances for Freedoms Foundation Award; similar letters (often very revealing) from graduates of Girls State; 1985 letter of recommendation from Charles A. LeMaistre, President of The University of Texas System Cancer Center; copy of Toby Lynn Crockett's tribute to Frances, a ninth grade essay entitled "A Living Texas Woman I Admire;" undated tribute to Frances Goff, written by Girls State Graduate Linda Roper Sease, who named her daughter after Frances; photos of Frances in action at Girls State; copies of the Girls State Daily Program; brown envelope containing many of the letters and materials just described.

When Frances died in 1994, her funeral was attended by many of the persons whose lives she touched. What a great lady and proud descendant of Job Davis. 


The Mystery of Eliza Ann Davis

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Looking through the early deeds of Stanly County, I came across this interesting document:



This document was interesting in many ways. I knew that "Eleazer Jane" had to be a member of our set of 'Davis's' due to the witness of Edward Winfield Davis. Also, John Lee and other members of his family were closely involved with our Davis's. Edward Winfield, uncle of E. W. Davis, had married Susanna Lee and James M. Davis, brother of E.W., had married Rowena Lee.

This document was a transfer of a 7 year old girl from the possession of John Lee to that of Eliza Jane Davis. (Eleazer was likely how her name was pronounced in the old Southern syncopation). The fee involved was $1.00. A dollar was, even in 1845, a nominal fee, meaning, the transaction was more of a gift, and that the dollar involved was merely nominal, as in when one family member sells a house, or car, for $1.00, just to show a change of hands with the money and property. The 'property' in this case was a little girl named Clementine.

I have already done a post on Clementine Barringer who was found living with great, great grandfather H. H. "Hawk" Davis in 1880 with her 3 young daughters. Clementine Barringer was born a slave. The age given for Clementine in 1880 was 35, meaning she was born around 1845. In the document, the child is 7. The ages in census records can be far off, as census takers guessed an age, or was speaking to an individual who guessed an age. Could Clementine actually have been several years older than 35 in 1880? Could she have been the Clementine involved in this document? I've found that she had married a James Barringer. Could this have been her beginning with the involvement with the Davis family? Clementine "Tiny" Barringer is buried in the Old Davis cemetery on Old Davis Road in southern Stanly County, along with Job and Sarah and other members of the Davis family.
Horton Hampton "Haut" Davis

But who was Eliza Jane, exactly. I thought the best place to look would be the branch who had married a Lee, the family of James "Jim" Davis, second born son of Job.

Jim and Rowena had 13 children. Their oldest daughter was Elizabeth Jane. She was born July 12, 1829. Her first husband was Steven Crump, Jr. The Davis girls were much involved with the Crump family. Elizabeth's cousin Sarah "Sallie" Davis would marry Steven's brother, Woodson Crump and Sallie's younger sister, Margaret Victoria Davis, would marry Woodson's son William D Crump, a stepson to her sister.









Elizabeth Jane and Steven Crump, Jr. would have only one daughter, Charlotte Sophronia Crump and the Elizabeth would marry a widower, Ephraim Mauney, brother-in-law of her younger sister, Wincy Catherine Davis, or "W. C."  She and Ephraim Mauney would have one daughter, Tallulah. They would move to Gold Hill, just up the road a short distance from Stanly County in southern Rowan. Gold Hill was a gold mining community.

But was Elizabeth Jane Davis and Eliza Jane Davis, the same?

Then I found this history of the Crump family.

47. STEPHEN5
 CRUMP, JR. (STEPHEN4
, JOHN BUSHROD3
, ADAM2
, JAMES1
) (Source: 1850 U S Census NC, Stanley
County.) was born Abt. 1823 in North Carolina, and died Bef. 1858 in North Carolina. He married ELIZA JANE
DAVIS (Source: 1850 U S Census NC, Stanley County.) Abt. 1849 in Stanley County, NC, daughter of JAMES
DAVIS and ROWENE. She was born 12 Jul 1829 in North Carolina, and died 01 Jan 1880.
Notes for STEPHEN CRUMP, JR.:
Stephen, Jr. is in the household of his uncle James Crump just two doors away from his father, Stephen in the
1850 Stanley County census. ELC 4/2004
Child of STEPHEN CRUMP and ELIZA DAVIS is:
i. CHARLOTTE6

 CRUMP (Source: 1850 U S Census NC, Stanley County.), b. May 1850.



The Crump family history has Elizabeth as "Eliza Jane" and not Elizabeth. This is most likely what she was known by. As others with this name were not born or not old enough in 1845 to have recieved such a gift, this has to be the case. in 1845, Eliza Jane herself was only 16 years old. Clementine was possibly a 'coming of age gift' from John Lee.

The following is the inscription on the headstone of Eliza Jane:
The pain of life is past.
warefare now is o'er
For God & sun & song
Triumphing in Paradice.
ELIZA JANE,
wife of
EPHRAIM MAUNEY
Daughter of J & R Davis
Died Jan 1, 1880,
AGED
50 yrs. 5 mos. & 19 dys.

Ther e is a simple Footstone bearing the initials E.J.M.


The Sixth Descendant

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My second grandson arrived yesterday, June 25, at about 7:45 pm. His name is Tach Owen and he came in weighing 7lbs 12 oz and 22 1/4 inches long.

He is my 6th descendant as his father, my firstborn, was the first, followed by a brother and two sisters. My oldest daughter's son Eli was number 5 and now, 4 years later, Tach is the sixth.

He weighed approximately the same as his Dad and aunts and uncle, as they ranged from 7 lb 10 oz to 7 lb 13 oz. He is longer than any of them. He should grow to be a tall man. His paternal grandfather was 6 foot 2 and his maternal grandfather is 6 foot 3. I am told that his maternal great-grandfather, Settle Burris, was 6 foot 6 inches tall, so he gets it honest.

He is a cousin to the many hundreds of people in Stanly County and beyond who are descended from the prodigious Revolutionary War Soldier, Solomon Burris.

He is also a descendant of Job Davis, for whom this blog is named, and of noted Trapper and trader "Cherokee Jack Johnson" who migrated from Tennessee to Florida, making Tach 1/64 Cherokee as Cherokee Jack was half, his daughter Mittie, one quarter, his grandson one eighth, my first husband 1/16 and my son 1/32nd.

Happy Birthday Tach. Your Nanny loves immensely.



Oklahoma Territory Sutton, Fiddler ExtraOrdinaire

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Oklahoma Territory Sutton, or O. T. was the husband of a descendant of Job Davis, Elizabeth Ingram. The following is his obituary:

O.T. Sutton
Funeral services were held on Wednesday, September 28, 1988 at Eckols Chapel in Kenedy for O.T. Sutton. The Rev. W.R. Menke Nad Robert L. Wimpee officiated. Interment was in the City Cemetery.
Pallbearers were Jimmy Sutton, Roxie Robinson, Ralph Sutton, Glen Sutton, Mark David and Douglas Wood. Arrangements were by Eckols Funeral Home of Kenedy.
O.T. was born in Sayre, Oklahoma on April 21, 1902 to LaFayette Fate and Abida Hawkins Walton Sutton and died on September 26, 1988 in Kenedy. He was 86 years, 5 months and 5 days of age.
O.T. had lived in Kenedy since 1954. He was married to Elizabeth Ingram on September 21, 1954 in Kerrville, Texas. He was a retired gauger and welder. He was active in Lone Star Fiddler Association, Old Time Fiddler Association, and United Fiddlers.
Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth Sutton of Kenedy; two sons, Russell W. Sutton of Brazoria, and Dell Sutton of Seguin; a sister, Oma Curl of Jourdanton; 6 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, 12 brothers and sisters, a wife, Ruby Sutton and a daughter, Virginia Reed Sutton. 
 Parents:
  LaFayatte Fatie Sutton (1861 - 1948)
  Abida Hawkins Walton Sutton (1862 - 1956)

 Spouses:
  Elizabeth Ingram Sutton (1908 - 1993)
  Ruby Reed Sutton (1901 - 1954)*






Whomever thinks that Genealogy is boring was not an apple that fell off the Davis tree. In researching the descendants of Job Davis, I have came across a wide-range of characters, and possibly none more colorful or charismatic than Mr. O. T. Sutton. Beginning with his name. 

Every family tree is full of stayers and goers. America was founded by "Goers", persons with enough derring-do, desperation or hope to make the long journey from whatever their country of origin over to a new and unknown land. Even those sent against their own will, whether children kidnapped and sold off the streets of London, poor Irish, convicts, or enslaved Africans, the survivors of which were the strong, the hopeful, the adventurous. The ones who had enough inner continence to persevere, to believe in a better future, the will to survive, are the ones today's Americans are descended from.

Their children were also born divided between those who were divided between those who were satisfied right where they were....the conservatives, and the adventurers: those who dreamed of something bigger, better, different, more exciting, than where they were. And it was that group who tamed the wild west and migrated off the east coast to the lands beyond. 

One trait I've noticed about our Western cousins were the unique and descriptive names they gave their children. Place names were very common. I've came across many girls named Missouri, or Florida, or Louisiana or Texie or Texanna. But "O. T. Sutton" was the only fella named Oklahoma Territory I've ever came across. 

His unique moniker also fit his personality well. He was such a warm person, his descendants decided to convey this message on his tombstone. 


"A Man Who Never Met A Stranger", what better statement could anyone ask to leave this world with?

Job Davis of Mecklenburg County, Virginia and Stanly County, NC, had a son named Henry. 

Henry and his second wife Martha Palmer Davis had a daughter named Martha J. Davis. 

Martha J. Davis and her husband Joseph Alexander Ingram migrated to Kenedy, Texas and had a son named Van Swearingen Ingram. 

Van Swearingen Ingram married a Texas born girl of Mississippi born parents named Ruth Ellen Butler. They had a daughter named Elizabeth Ingram.

Elizabeth Ingram married O. T. Sutton. 

Old Bottle

Oklahoma Territory Sutton, born to be a character, was born on April 21, 1902 in Beckham County, Oklahoma. He was the son of Lafayette "Fatie" Sutton and his wife Abida Hawkins Walton Sutton.

Fate and Abida Sutton

An 1892 Interview with "Fount" Sutton, grandfather of O. T. and father of Lafayette Sutton, told of how he left Texas with his family when he had heard of the free grassland in Oklahoma. He brought a wife, 6 children and 40 head of cattle with him. He made the run, planted his stake and was the first man with a family on Timber Creek. They lived from a tent and wagon until he was able to build a dugout. Two more children were born on the claim until 1898, when he would bury his wife, with another infant, in the first factory made casket in the town cemetery. His children were educated in a dugout school. 

Fate, one of the older children, would marry one of a set of twins, Abida Walton, and have 8 children. Okalahoma Territory would be the youngest son, and 7th child. 

By 1910, Fate and Abida had moved their now complete family to Chaves County, New Mexico, were he farmed.
Fate and Abida with their greyhounds.



1920 would find the family on the move again and coming full circle from Founts trip from Oklahoma, back into Texas.



In 1921, in Pleasantville, Atacosta County, Texas, O. T. would marry a Texas girl and start a family of his own. The couple would have three children together, Russel Warren in 1923, Virginia Louise in 1925, and Rutherford Dale in 1928. Sadly, young Virginia would die of bronchial pneumonia at the age of 18.

O. T. would loose his first wife, Ruby, to cancer in  February, 1954. The family had settled in Bee, Texas.
Later that same year on September 21, 1954, he married Elizabeth Ingram. 
Location of Kenedy, Texas. The Devil's Box available for purchase here!




O. T. Sutton was known as a kind-hearted, larger-than-life and very talented man. Everyone who met him instantly took to this old-time Western musician. Oklahoma Territory would pass away in 1988 at the age of 86 and Elizabeth Ingram Sutton would pass away in 1993 at the age of 85.



Untangling the Melton's Pt I

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In attempting to discover what became of the children from Stanly County born in "Shades of Gray", first, I wanted to find out who they were exactly. Who were their mothers, and how were the persons of the same surname,  and the men they were bound to, connected to the children or their mothers.

The first family I am looking into is the Meltons or Miltons. The name is shown inter-changeably in records.

The Meltons in Stanly County were a singular family. Land transactions have helped to connect a few of them together. They seem to have been a small family in the beginning, related to the Lees, Boysworths, Kirks and Perry's, with overlapping generations. A few of the Melton brothers, as in the comparable Murray family, seemed to have been dominant, Henry H. and David.

I started with the court records that listed the children. These are the children listed and any adults associated with them.
1841
-Allen Melton, age 18, bound to William Boysworth until 21.
- Robert, son of Polly Melton, brought to court to be bound.
-Elbert, son of Charlotte Melton, brought to court to be bound.
1845 Elisah H Milton bound to William Boysworth.
1846 Mary Caroline Milton bound to Benjamin L. Whitley until age 18.
Margaret Melton bound to John Perry until age 18.
1850 George Milton age 7, living with James Hinson and Nancy Milton Hinson.
1847 Henry Melton bound to John Perry.



There were court actions involving adult Meltons in the 1841 to 1850 court proceedings, as well, that show connections to each other and other families:
-Henry Melton on the Insolvent list
-William Boysworth (land transaction) to William Davis - proved by John Melton.
-Joseph Melton - Insolvent.
-Last Will and Testament of James Cox proved by Joseph Melton.
-Special Letters of Administration granted to John G Forrest on Feb. 16, 1846 on estate of John Melton, Sr.
-John G Forrest, appointed administrator of the estate of John Milton, Sr. William Forrest and Alpha Swaringen, standing bond.
-H. H. Melton - juror
-James Melton -patrol
Mary Melton - land transaction to David and William Melton.
Joseph Melton- land transaction to David and William Melton.
Stephen Foreman, defendant, with Henry Melton, Roland Forrest, Robert Melton and SFL Morton.
Joseph Melton allowed to prove attendance.
 1850 District 1 Captains for Patrol: R. Melton, H. H. Melton.

There were several instances of Melton's or Milton's being called for jury duty or serving as bondsmen.
These adult Milton's were as follows: David, William, Robert, Joseph, James R., John Sr., John Jr. and Henry H or H. H.

The Stanly County Register of Deeds office also offered a great source of information on the Meltons. Some transactions seemed to be regular sales or transfers of land from neighbor to neighbor, or a sale to move. Others offered indication of relationship, especially creating a list of  the 'heirs of John Melton'.

-June 25 1847 Mary Melton "a single woman" to David and William Melton "my brothers".

-Feb.  1, 1847 Joseph Melton to David and William Melton, land on Mountain Creek, "which is the lands of John Melton, Sr., deceased and Joseph being lawful heir of deceased."

-Feb 20, 1846 James Hinson and Nancy Hinson to David Melton and William Melton "which are part of lands of John Milton, Sr. being heirs of John Melton". ..being located on Mountain Creek.

- May 13, 1851 John Boysworth to David Melton - Almond Boysworth's corner, William Davis's line, John Meltons corner, 150 acres.

-Nov 8, 1854 H.H. and R. S. Melton to E. Hearne and J. R. Melton. Henry H. and Robert S. securities in the Salisbury branch of the Cape Fear Bank in the sum of $750.00.  .....on the waters of Jacob's Creek, H. H. Melton resides adjoining William Forrest and W. F. Nash. 100 acres on the PeeDee River known as the William Davis tract.


Book 34 Page 438 - Division of the lands of Jonathan Boysworth: 1) James 2) Almond 3) Mary 4) William 5) Caswell 6) John 7) Elizabeth 8) Nancy Milton.

In the marriage records, most of the marriages are of members of the younger generation, children of the adults mentioned in the court records. The court records and deeds seem to indicate a Mr. John Melton Sr., who had the following heirs: John, Jr.,  Joseph, James R., Henry H., David, William, Mary and Nancy Hinson. A Robert was named as the son of Polly in the P's and Q's. The Robert mentioned in the land records could have been a different Robert, or the same. Polly was a nickname for Mary in those days, so the Mary, heir of John Melton Sr., was probably the Polly, mother of Robert. Next I'll look at the census records and see if they can pull some things together.

The Melton's Part II Census Records

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Census records are one of the most useful tools in tracking a family, however, I've learned to be very careful when using this information. To put it simply, census takers made a lot of mistakes. Just recently, I saw one in which a woman's age was listed as 54 and her husbands as 17. Luckily, both appeared in the census records before and after this one and the husbands age should have been 57, instead of 17.

Beginning researchers also make a lot of mistakes when using them as tools, especially in the earlier census records, which do not give relationship to the Head of Household. They assume every child listed in the household is a child of the head of household, which might not be the case. Sometimes extra persons in the home had a different surname, and the census taker just wrote down the first name, so the individual ends up with the wrong surname. I've seen this several times. Or, the census takers hand-writing is so bad, no one can transcribe it correctly. This might be a reason some individuals seemed to disappear for a decade, only to reappear in the same place they were 20 years prior.

Despite all of these obstacles, census records remain a valuable source of information.

In trying to untangle the Melton/Milton family of Stanly and Montgomery Counties, in North Carolina, I took a look at census records to see if they could give us any hint as to the relationships between the individuals.

The first census of the United States was taken in 1790. Prior to that, there were some local methods of counting for tax purposes, tax lists and the such, which varied from state to state. In 1790 neither Stanly or Montgomery Counties existed yet. Montgomery was born in 1799 and his other half, Stanly, which was known in the 1800-1840 census records as "West Pee Dee", was born in 1841.
In 1790, the area that is now those two counties, and several others, were all a part of Mother Anson. There were 5 men and their families listed with the surname Melton in Anson County in 1790: Isham, Jesse, John, another John and Michael. Moore County, very close to Montgomery, was home to Nathaniel, James and Ansel. Randolph, which borders Montgomery to the north, was home to Samuel.

In 1800, Montgomery County, which included the area now known as Stanly, was a year old. The only Melton or Milton enumerated there was John, with one male over 45, one female over 45, with one male under 10 in the home, and 2 between the ages of 10 and 16. He was listed next to Elizabeth Bosworth, or Boysworth. The two families would maintain a close relationship for generations.


In 1810, there appears a blotted out "Melton" next to a George Lee. This Melton has a female aged 26 to 45 in the household, and 3 males, one 16 to 26 and 2 under 10. This may have been a widow and her 3 sons. Other families living in the area were 3 Marberry's, Thomas, Thomas, William and Bartlet Huckabee, Bennett Soloman, John Kirk, Esq., and Isaac, Alex and Thomas Biles. In a different area, John Milton is there, with one male and one female over 45, and one male 16 to 26. Joseph Milton has one male and one female age 26 to 45, one male 16 to 26, two females 10 to 16 and 2 males under 10. The 'neighbors' give no indication, by known area of settlement of families, of where they may have been in Montgomery County.

There is no 1820 census available for Montgomery County. Montgomery had a problem with Courthouse fires. One of the fires may have been the reason there is no 1820 census.

By 1830, 20 years had passed. Time enough for some of those listed as children to be heads of their own households, or to have moved away. There are 4 households of Melton's in Montgomery County. Living a little further away from the other 3 is John Melton, with one male 20 to 30, one female 20 to 30 and one female under 5. This would have to be John Jr., or John the younger. He is next to my ancestors James Palmer and Jesse Murray. Jesse Murray, I know, lived on Long Creek in the southern part of the county, not far from the Rocky River. Other neighbors, Shankles, Simpsons and Soloman Burris, the younger, seem to suggest the Cottonville area.  

The other Melton's are living near the Kirks and the Forrests, which suggests they are living along the Pee Dee, north of Randalls and near the Swift Island area, where they later were known to have settled.

John, the elder, (due to the ages of the oldest inhabitants in the home), is shown with a male 50 to 60 and a female 40 to 50 in the home, there are also 2 females 15 to 20, 3 males 10 to 15, 1 male 5 to 10, and 2 females under 5. This is a substantial group of persons and definately not all Meltons born by 1820 account for just this family grouping. And an even larger household right next door is led by Betsy Melton, most likley a widow, with both a male and female in the house 40 to 50, 1 male 20 to 30 and 2 females 20 to 30, 1 male 15 to 20, 1 female 15 to 20, 1 male 10 to 15, 1 female 10 to 15, 2 females 5 to 10 and 1 female under 5. A total of 12 persons in the home, perhaps an adult child and their family.

Joseph Melton is not very far, between Thomas Dunn and Thomas Kirk and only 2 houses count away from Peter Winfield II.  The short, but important life of Peter Winfield II

This Joseph will be the one I will refer to as Joseph the elder, although up until this point, he is the only Joseph, another will soon make an appearance. In 1830, he is shown with a female 60 to 70 and a male 50 to 60, perhaps a married couple, with the wife a few years older than the husband, say 61 and 59, maybe. There is also a female 30 to 40, one 20 to 30 and a male 20 to 30, 1 female 10 to 15, 4 males 5 to 10 and 2 under 5. That's a large number of little boys in one household born between 1820 and 1830. All of the Melton's are listed in West Pee Dee, which would become Stanly County.

 1840 was the last census in which the two counties were counted as one, and in which only the heads of households were named. Most Heads of Households were the oldest male in the home, be it father or grandfather or adult son. Some households led by women show an adult male in the home, which may have been an employee and not an adult son, or it could have been a home wherein the mother still conducted most of the business as a widow, and the son had not yet taken title to the property.

By 1840, the number of Melton households had increased from 4 to 5, all within close proximity to each other. These last two censuses also had persons enumerated in a way that further divided them, and this is something I will refer to in later posts on these families. There are designations as F, M. FS, MS, MFC, and FFC, meaning female or male (white), female slave, male slave, female free colored, male free colored. While the existence of Indians as a tribe settled in this area by then, had been long gone, some families, living like those of European decent, still occupied the state, and still do. One family designated as Free Colored, was that of Richard Hedgepeth, whom I learned some time ago from a researcher, had been verified as being Native American. By 1840, some of the Melton children classified as Mulatto, or near black nor white, had been born.

Joseph Melton the elder, is shown with both male and female 60 to 70, a female 40 to 50, another 30 to 40, a male 20 to 30 another 15 to 20 and another 10 to 15. John Melton, the elder is shown still next to Thomas Biles, who has an adult female and 3 children in his home that are "FC". So is the family of Gabriel Bell, who also appeared in the 1830 census.

John the elder has an older couple in the house, male 60 to 70 and female 50 to 60, a male and a female 20 to 30 and 5 persons under 20. Henry Melton makes his appearance this year as a young couple 20 to 30 with a girl under 5 in the home. He lives near Dr. Kron. Both John and Joseph, the youngers live near William Boysworth and near a number of Kirks, but all in the same area as the other Melton's. Joseph has an adult couple between 20 and 30 and a girl under 5. John the younger has a couple between 30 and 40 and a girl 10 to 15 and another 5 to 10.

Next, I'll be looking and comparing the records after 1850, in which Montgomery and Stanly are separate, and women and children are named with ages.


The Melton's Come of Age: 1841

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I ended the last post with the Melton's who were shown in the 1840 census of Montgomery County, North Carolina: John the elder, John the younger, Joseph the elder, Joseph the younger, and Henry, making his first appearance as' Head of Household'. Betsy, who was in the previous two census records, and most likely a widow, had disappeared.

In 1841, the part of Montgomery County that had been known as "West PeeDee" became Stanly County.
Between 1840 and 1850, a great deal had happened in the Melton family. Members of the younger generation had reached the age of majority and the older ones had passed away. Land and court records can help clarify some of this change.

A road order was issued during the August 1841 Session of Court in the newly formed county. "Ordered by the court that Quisenberry Kirk be appointed overseer of the road from George Kirks' ferry to the Russell('s) old field and Jonathan Bell and hands, William Rush and hand, Gilbert Noble, James Melton, Jesse Pritchard, Henry Melton, Joseph Melton, Jr., Thomas Biles Senior hands, Thomas Biles, Jr. & Pleasant Biles work on said road. ".

This is the first appearance of James the younger in records. He was apparently not head of his own household yet in 1840. This also shows James working in conjunction with Henry and Joseph the younger, whom I know were brothers. In the Rowan County public library, in the family folders, I came across a flowery and boastful family tree of a descendant of James R Melton of Stanly County. He had his ancestor, the son of James, correct, and had the correct parents, James R. and his wife Mary Ann Kirk, but after that, this gentleman had went off into outerspace with James R having no connection to the local Meltons and descending instead from a Revolutionary War soldier named Thomas and to the poet Milton and other grandiose claims. While I can not dispute that the Stanly County Melton/Milton family may have biological connections to the poet, I do know that they also have much closer relations to each other.

This road order also refers to Joseph as Joseph, Jr. , meaning Joseph the elder was most likely still alive in 1840, and so they referred to Joseph D. Melton as "Jr.". To those unfamiliar with genealogical research, it may seem like the term "Jr." should mean "son of". It does now, but 'back in the day', it simply meant 'the younger' and not necessarily 'the son of'. The younger man could be a nephew, a cousin, a grandson, or simply no relation at all, just residing in the same general area with an older man of the same name.
The Milton/Melton family (the name is shown interchangeably in early records) also show a close interaction to the Bosworth (later Boysworth) and Forrest families, and to some extent, the Biles and Kirks.

The 1841 tax list records the following Meltons and where their properties were located.

John Melton Sr.      100 acres on Mountain Creek, no poll
John Melton Jr.        75 acres on Vickory Branch, one poll
Henry Melton      no property mentioned, just one poll
Joseph Melton    no property mentioned, just one poll.

James was apparently not old enough yet to qualify as a poll. John Senior was too old., and by the time the tax man came around, Joseph Sr. had apparently deceased.

There was an older James Melton who lived in Montgomery County, before she was split in half in 1841 as evidence by land transactions: Montgomery County, NC Land Warrants and Surveys 1833-1950

4612  Sally (Sarah) Curtis 25 acres warrant 7263 issued Jan. 16, 1815 by Will Stone to Sally Curtis......joins Moses Curtis, deceased and includes part of William McGregor's old place on Yadkin River, entered October 15, 1814, surveyed by D. Cochran for Sarah Curtice, on West Side of Yadkin River; border begins at William McGregor deceased's upper corner willow oak of "the" old "plantation" tract on the river bank and joins Bennett Soloman; Bennett Soloman and James Melton chain carriers.
Now, here is where a working knowledge of the history of the county might help a little bit. If I am not mistaken, the William (or Willm) McGregor referred to in the above reference, was probably the Rev. McGregor whom the reknown Dr. F. Kron from Prussia, whose home is restored in Morrow Mountain State Park, purchased his property from. The Rev. McGregor founded a very early church in these parts called "The Mouth of the Uwharrie Baptist Church". According to legend, Rev. McGregor is buried still on the property now known as the Kron place, in Morrow Mountain State Park, and passed away about a decade before this land transaction took place.

The name Bennett Soloman is also an important one, as Soloman's pop up in Melton records later on. I have not nailed it down yet, but I believe a Melton daughter married a Soloman son.

4748 James Melton 12 acre warrant 7800 issued May 7, 1818 by D McRae to David Miller for 12 ac joins Moses "Kertis" & Thomas Huckabee; entered Feb 7, 1818; 12 ac surveyed Oct 23, 1818 by D. Cochran, on Yadkin River border; begins at William McGregor deceased's upper corner willow oak on the river bank and joins Thos Huckabee; Parham Kirk & Stephen Kirk, chain carriers;

This transaction was 3 years after the Sarah 'Curtice" transaction and seems to be in the same area, the Rev. McGregors willow oak. But James Melton did not show up in the census records.... More acutely, he did not show up in the 1810 census, but was here or nearly an adult, by 1815. There was no 1820 census for Montgomery County. It was destroyed. He probably would have shown up in it. There was an 1830 census with John, Joseph and a female head-of-household, Betsy. In all likelihood, but without possibly any proof due to the series of Courthouse fires, Betsy (Elizabeth), was the widow of the elder James Melton.
Courthouse fires have been the scourge of researchers for centuries. 
What will the 1850's hold for the Melton family and will records shed light on who is who and how they got there?

Solomons, Birds, Wilkersons, Meltons and Hedgepeths, Oh My!

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The deeper I dig into the Melton/Milton family of Stanly and Montgomery Counties, the more the family weaves in to other families and the more the color lines of the 19th and earlier 20th century are blurred. Some of the family lines seem to be timeworn and well-established Virginia families that made their way to Granville, Person and Franklin Counties, in NC, before dropping into the lap of Stanly. Others are more intangible.

In this section of map from the ncdcr.org, you can see the path from Virginia, through Granville and Person, into Franklin and then southwest, probably through Chatham and Orange, before ending up in the Stanly and Montgomery County areas.

I will be getting into it in later posts, but found that John Melton, born in Virginia and raised in Granville County, married Margaret "Peggy" Wilkenson, daughter of David Wilkenson (or sometimes seen as Wilkerson) and Sarah Pettypool. The name Pomfreit (or variations of it), an odd name, runs through the early Meltons, John having a brother named Pomfriet Melton (or Milton). They were sons of Henry Melton of Granville and as I mentioned, I will cover all of that in a later post. David Wilkerson was a Jr., son of David Wilkerson, Sr. He had a brother named William, who married Martha "Patsy" Pettypool, daughter of John Pettypool and Sarah Sanford. A descendant of William, Joseph Pomfrey Wilkerson, born in Granville, also married into the Pettypools by taking Martha, dauther of Stephen Pettypool and Margaret Haliburton as his wife.

All this is to lead back to Joseph D. Melton, Sr. Joseph was definately a son of John Melton, Sr. as proven by land records. His first wife was named Clementine. They are shown together in Montgomery County in 1850, then Joseph disappears and Clementine is shown living in Albemarle near James R. Melton in 1860, with their two youngest sons. Where were Joseph and the older son?

Clementine must have died before 1868, because a marriage record exists in Stanly County for September 3, 1868 between Joseph D Melton, son of John and Margaret, and Polly Ann Solomon, daughter of Elizabeth Solomon, no father mentioned, but the service performed by William Solomon.

Joseph D and Mary Ann (or Molly or Polly, as she is alternately seen), have their own family in Montgomery County. They lived not far from the Stanly County line and the forks of the Yadkin and Rocky Rivers, in between the present towns of  Norwood and Mt. Gilead, as Joseph donated a portion of his farm for a church in 1876 and the the church still exists.

The marriage of Joe and Polly was not the only interaction between the Solomans and Meltons. A James and Fannie Soloman were neighbors of some of the Meltons in the Swift Island area and their land was bought out by Joseph's brother Henry H. Melton in  1851.

A young man named John Soloman was living with John Milton, Jr. in 1850.

John E. Soloman of Rowan County, Gold Hill, bought and sold some land on the Yadkin River to James F. Kirk. He was probably the same John E. Solomon who was ordered to be brought to court in 1841 in Stanly County, and was described as a colored boy 'now living with Edmund Lilly'.

Several Meltons ended up moving to Gold Hill. One of them was Nancy Boysworth Melton, the widow of John Melton, Jr. Another was Elbert, son of Charlotte Melton, who was also ordered to be brought to court in the early days of Stanly County. Elbert was also described as 'colored', while his mother, who is found living with James R. Melton in Albemarle in 1860, and very close to Clementine and her sons, is enumerated as white. Then there is Harris Melton, who is found living with Ann Bird in Gold Hill in 1850. This couple is sited in a Stanly County lawsuit that made it to the Federal Courts, their marriage being described as illegal, as Ann Bird was white and Harris Melton is described as not, however, they sued because they said the law did not apply to Indians and that Harris Melton was part-Indian, not black, and the court determined after evidence was presented, that he was indeed and Indian. All of this deserves further investigation, that is to come, but the point was that a number of members of the Melton family had relocated to Gold Hill.

Mary Ann "Polly" Soloman was much younger than her husband. Her marriage license lists no father.

In 1850 in Stanly County, a bastardy bond was taken out against James Middleton for the maintenance of a baseborn child begot on the body of Elizabeth Soloman.

In 1850, Mary was 2. She is shown in the household of Nancy Soloman born 1786 in Virginia, with Elizabeth, 35, a John W. Soloman 21, Henry Clay Soloman 10, James A. Soloman 9, and then Mary.

In 1860, Nancy 75, born in North Carolina, 1785, Betsy 41, Henry 21, Allen 19 (James Allen Solomon), John 31 and Mary 11.

Mary Ann Solomon Melton died on September  19, 1916 in Montgomery County, NC. Her death certificate states that she was born in 1851 in Stanly County (but she was in the 1850 census as 2), and that she was the daughter of John Solomon and Elizabeth Wilkerson.

Her husband Joseph was the son of Margaret Wilkerson Melton and Mary Ann was the daughter of Elizabeth Wilkerson Solomon. Were they related?

But back to John W Solomon, who was he? And how was Elizabeth related to the head of household, Nancy?

Also, in 1841, a John W Soloman was ordered to be brought to court to be bound out, but unlike John E. Soloman, he was not described as colored.

In the Stanly County marriage records, in 1869, John Solomon, son of John Bruster and Nancy Solomon, marries Martha Tolbert, daughter of Thomas and Nancy Tolbert.

The next census, 1870, shows John Solomon, 35 and Martha Solomon, 26 living in Stanly County, having been married in July.

So, John living in the household with Nancy and Elizabeth was the illegitimate son of a John Bruster and Nancy Solomon. Further research shows Nancy to be the widow of a Ben Solomon (shown as Bennett or Benjamin). In 1850, there was a James (44) and Fanny Solomon and William (48) and Tabitha Soloman living in the same area of the county as Nancy. In all likelihood, they were also her sons.

Granville County marriages show a Benjamin Solomon and a Nancy Hide marrying on May 20, 1819. While  William Solomon married Penny Bird  on January 11, 1804.

Could that be Ben and Nancy of the Yadkin River, Montgomery and Stanly County area?

Was Elizabeth living with Nancy, Elizabeth Wilkerson Melton and had she been married to John Soloman at some point? There was a gap between the ages of the two sons, Henry Clay Solomon and James Allen Solomon, so I decided to look into them to what I could find.

Takes me back to my research on Albert Murray, son of Mariah Murray, his marriage certificate listed his fathers name as a Henry Wilkerson, and the only known Wilkerson in the county at that time, as an adult head-of-household was Jonathan. Albert Murray and his siblings also balanced precariously on the color line.

Also, a William Soloman marrying a Penny Bird, was not the only connection between the Solomans and Birds as well. A 20 year old BF Bird was living with David Melton in 1860 and Henry Bird was the Melton's neighbor along the Yadkin for several decades.

Both Henry Clay Solomon and his brother, James Allen Solomon, served in the Civil War. After that, their paths parted, and took them both into strange territory. Henry Clay Solomon's last census proved a puzzling piece to an already unfamiliar web.
ame:Henry C Solomon
Age in 1910:71
Birth Year:abt 1839
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1910:Pee Dee, Montgomery, North Carolina
Race:White
Gender:Male
Relation to Head of House:Father
Marital Status:Wd
[Widowed] 
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
James Christian39
Margaret A Christian33
Robert Christian17
Emanuel Montgomery28
Henry C Solomon71
George Ridenhour15
Henry Thomas17
Jonas Roper28

The Saga of John Peter Winfield

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According to his obituary, naming exactly how many years, months and days old he was upon the day of his death, John Peter Winfield was born on September 3, 1832 in what is now Stanly County, North Carolina, along the shores of the Yadkin/PeeDee River north of its confluence with the Rocky River and close to where the Swift Island Ferry would eventually cross. I determined the area from knowing the location of some of the neighbors of his father Peter II, son of Edward, grandson of Peter, great grandson of Edward, son of Jarvis Winfield of Sussex County, Virginia. Peter was shown in the 1830 census near the Kirks, Boysworths, William Craven Thompson and the Meltons, who lived off of what is now Hwy 24/27 between Albemarle and Troy in the Stanly County part of what was then known as the "West PeeDee" part of Montgomery County.


Peter is shown in the census as a young man with a young woman and two little boys in his house under the age of 5. This would have been his wife Mary "Polly" Goldston Winfield and two sons. It would make since that these two boys would be William Winfield, born in 1829, and John Peter. However, if John Peter was truly born in 1832, he would not have been counted in the 1830 census, so there may have been another son who died as a child.

Photo: Yadkin (Pee Dee) River Bridge opening ceremony.
The Grand Opening of the Swift Island Bridge across the Pee Dee River from Stanly to Montgomery Counties in North Carolina in December 1922, courtesy of The Federal Highway Administration. The bridge had to be demolished just a few years later due to construction of a dam downstream near Norwood, NC. 



Peter died as a young man, at the age of 27, leaving a 21 year old wife and two little boys, William and John Peter. Mary Goldston Winfield, known as many Mary's were by the cub name of 'Polly', was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson Goldston, who had been born in Chatham County where the Goldstons hived, and Lydia "Liddie" Waddell, of Randolph County. Peter was the brother of her first cousin, Mary Louise Burroughs' (Bryan Burroughs and Sally Waddell Burroughs) husband Arthur Freeman Winfield. Polly and Peter had married on November 7, 1825 in Randolph County at the tender age of 16.

After the death of her first husband, Peter, Mary married John Richardson Barber, three years later in 1833. In addition to her sons with Peter Winfield, she had 8 children with John R. Barber:

Lydia Ann Barber Mills (1834 - 1869)
Robert Barber (1836 - 1863) Civil War casualty as well.
Sarah "Sallie" Barber Briley (1838 - 1922)
Rev. James Alfred Barber (1840 - 1872)
George Barber (1842 - 1864) Civil War Casualty.
Sidney R Barber (1844 -1911) Died in Lousiana.
Walter Jones Barber (1848 - 1893)
Mary Adeline Barber (1853 - Unknown)

In the 1850 census, a 20 year old "Peter High" was also living with the family and caused the transcriber to name all of the family "High", but the children were Barbers.

Name:Mary Barber
Age:42
Birth Year:abt 1808
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1850:Dumas Shop, Anson, North Carolina
Gender:Female
Family Number:1024
Household Members:
NameAge
John R Barber44
Mary Barber42
William Winfield21
John Winfield20
Peter Hight20
Lydia A Hight16
Robert Hight14
Sarah Hight11
James Hight9
George Hight7
Sydney High5
Walter High2




By 1860, J P Winfield had married Susanna Virginia Liles, daughter of Jesse Jones Liles and Eleanor Dumas McClendon. They married in 1851, at the ages of  19 and 16. Teenaged marriages were not uncommon in those days, and in fact, necessary, due to the fragility of life and lack of urgent medical care. The average lifespan was much lower than it is today and the infant mortality rate was extremely high.

Susan was a spirited young woman and from accounts from the Thomas family, of which she later became a member, very beautiful. She and John P. Winfield would have 4 sons together:

Edward Kerr Winfield 1852 -1864 Died as a child at the age of 12
William Liles Winfield 1855 - 1923 married Irana Lucy Furr , 4 children
John Goldston Winfield 1858 -1942 married Dora Caudle, 6 children
Robert Jesse Winfield 1861 -1947 married cousin Ella Davis, 7 children, married second Annie Knight, 2 children. All living Winfields in the Anson and surrounding counties are descended from the 3 sons of John Peter Winfield who lived to adulthood. Peter's brother Milton died childless and his older brothers John and Freeman migrated to Alabama and Arkansas.
John P Winfield
Age in 1860:30
Birth Year:abt 1830
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1860:Diamond Hill, Anson, North Carolina
Gender:Male
Post Office:Wadesboro
Value of real estate:View Image
Household Members:
NameAge
John P Winfield30
Susan Winfield25
Edward Winfield8
William Winfield5
John Winfield2

When the Confederate Army was formed in 1861, John Peter Winfield met the call to service, along with all of his Barber half-brothers with the exception of William Jones Barber, who was only 13. Even 16 year old Sidney joined up. JP Winfield, along with Robert and George, would loose their lives in the war. Older brother, William Winfield, would die in 1864 of typhoid fever and is buried in the Brown Creek Baptist Church cemetery with his mother and stepfather. Surviving brother James Alfred Barber, would become a minister there later. 
Location of Brown Creek in comparison with other creeks and counties. 


Excerpts from the "Wadesborough Argus": 1862 -1863

Thurs. July 10, 1862 List of Killed and Wounded in Co. C 14th Regiment, as far as known: Killed - Daniel McKay, Frank McLendon, mortally wounded, Jesse Sibley, since dead.
Casualties, in PeeDee Wildcats, J P Winfield, in arm, severely. 

May 30, 1864  Corp. George Barber, Co K, 43rd NC Reg. of Brown Creek. To be buried. 

NC Argus, Thursday, Feb. 3, 1863 (Wadesborough, North Carolina)
Killed: At Rawls Mill, Martin County, NC, 2nd November, 1862
John P Winfield of Anson County, aged 32 years, 2 months and 29 days. He was a private in Capt. J McLauchlins  Co. K, 26th Regiment of NC troops. In May last, he bid adieu to friends and relatives to go forth in defense of country and loved ones at home. After spending a few weeks in peace and quietude on the tented field, the company had an engagement with the enemy in which engagement he was instantly killed by a shell. He leaves a wife and four children besides many other friends and relations to mourn his untimely loss. I would say to them, weep not, believe that he has changed a world of wars, for one of eternal bliss. In August of 1836, he made a public profession of religion, joined the church and was baptized. He was a consistent member up to the day on which he was killed. We all have reason to believe he was nearly a pure Christian as this earth affords. And I doubt not that he is to-day on the peaceful shores of eternal happiness, singing praises to God, with those who have gone before him. May those left behind prepare to meet him. 
Signed  A Friend

The following link is from a story on the PeeDee Wildcats:



Excerpts from the PeeDee Wildcats:


The Story of Company K 26th North Carolina Infantry
Transcribed from the NC Argus Newspaper by
David M. Edwards
Military Order of the Stars & Bars
Captain Henry C. Grady Chapter 296
Wadesboro, NC


CASUALTIES IN PEE DEE WILDCATS

Killed Geo. Bowman
S.F. Gathings, slightly wounded in the breast.
J.P. Winfield, in arm severely. H. Willoughby, in head severely. Corporal W.H. Dabbs, in arm,
severely. P.W. McGugan, arm, severely. J.T. Henly, bruised in the side by a limb cut from a
tree by a shell. E. Hildreth is missing, but it is thought will come up yet.
 The 26th was in some of the hottest of the fights. In Company K Cap. McLauchlin, was
wounded in the head, while gallantly leading his men against the foe, but still remains with his
company.

Wild Cats at Seven Pines
North Carolina Argus
Thursday, July 10, 1862
Banks Chickahominy, July 4, 1862

One of our company was killed
instantly, George Bowman. J.P. Winfield and H. Willoughby, were wounded slightly.

List of Casualties in 26th NC Regt in the Battles near Richmond, Va, from 25th
June to 4th July
North Carolina Argus July 31, 1862
Com K - Private George Bowman killed; Capt. J.C. McLauchlin, Corpl W.H. Cabbs and privates
S.F. Gathings, J.F. Hienly, W.J. Horn, P.W. McGougan, H. Willoughby, and J.D. Windfield
wounded.
The regiment suffered 8 killed, 61 wounded, 5 missing, 3 wounded have since died.




In the Interim: The Saga of Gabriel Bell

The Melton/Milton Family in the 1850 and 1860 Census

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Tying all of the individuals from a small local family together is like a puzzle that wants to be assembled. To do so, one must gather all of the evidence possible, see what fits and what doesn't, then try to make sense of it all. Some mysteries will never be solved. Others are just waiting to be discovered.

Looking at the Melton/Milton family in the 1850 and 1860 census records, and then comparing that to the land records and court records, you can see a few possibilities begin to take shape. Some individuals that show up in one record, do not in another, that is why I've decided to put these two together and then, by using information in the deeds and court proceedings, try to identify the individuals in the census records.

1850
Henry H Melton 29 NC Carpenter b 1821 This is Henry Harrison Melton, from Land records, son of John Melton, Sr. 
Martha  21 His wife Martha Kirk Melton 
Robert S 21 Carpenter Son of Mary "Polly" Melton, sister of Henry H. 
Julia A 1  Must have been firstborn daughter who died as a small child. 
Mary Melton 46 From deeds, older sister of Henry H. and daughter of John Sr. 

1860
H H Melton 39 b NC
Martha 30
Houston 10 Samuel Houston Melton, became a prominent citizen and judge
Jane E 8  Only appears in this census.
Louisa 6  Sarah Louisa, married John H. Swaringen, moved to Cabarrus County
Mary F 4  Married 1st cousin Atlas D Melton, son of Joseph. 
John 4 months old

1850
James R Melton b 1821 NC
Mary Ann 24  Mary Ann Kirk
Davidson 1  married Sophronia Hearne


1860
James R Melton 40  Grocer
Mary A Melton 32
Davidson H 11  Davidson Hearne Melton- moved to High Point
Ellen Douglas 9 Married I. W. (Buck) Snuggs
Wm Thomas 7  Migrated to Texas, married Isabelle Myers 
Eliza C Kirk 19 Sister of Mary Ann
John Williams 40 Tailor Brother of Clementine Williams Melton - 
next house
Charlotte Melton 62  Some researchers have her as second wife of John Melton Sr. who died in 1845. Marriage license for John Melton and Charlotte Byers in Rutherford County. Rutherford County had large population of Meltons. Stanly County court records has her mother of illegitimate son Elbert Melton, to be brought to court to be bound out. 

1850
William Valentine 31 Blacksmith (mulatto)
Elbert Melton 25 Blacksmith (mulatto) Court records state son of Charlotte Melton

1860 Gold Hill Rowan County, NC
Elbert (Edward) Melton 38 House Carpenter
Houston Valentine 18 Day Laborer Perhaps son of William Valentine? 
Ann Melton 28
Mather Melton 10
Christian Melton 7
Tamar J Melton 2

Image of 2007.63.885, Print, Photographic: Fourth of July, 1912, Downtown Albemarle

1850 Census of Albemarle, in town of..

House 832  Henry H Melton and family
House 833  David Austin family
House 834  Blacksmiths: William Valentine and Elbert Melton both mulatto
House 835  Daniel Lowder family
House 836  Wiley Hutson and wife Sarah Melton Hutson, and family. Daughter of John Melton, Sr.
House 837  James R Melton family (named oldest son Davidson Hearne Melton).
House 838  Davidson Hearne family

Census records do not show an exact layout of a community as we do not know the path of the enumerator or the way the residences were situated. They can, however, be taken as general proximity.

1850 Robert S Melton, 21, living with Henry H. (see above). Son of Mary per Stanly County court records, Sent to court to be bound. Illegitimate child. 

1860 R. S. Melton 31 Master Mechanic, Camden, Ouchita, Arkansas.
Mary E.

1850
Elisha Melton 10  Married Frances Marbry March 13 1862. Civil War Casualty. Widow later married Ervin Whitley.
Living in the family of John F Stone
along with Damaris Palmer  aka Damaris Baldwin Palmer Russell

Note: There were several Melton children living with various families near other members of the Melton family. I am looking into the possibility that they were siblings of deceased parents related to the other Meltons.

1850 Freemans Township Stanly County

John Melton b 1804 Virginia  46
Nancy (Boysworth) Melton 46 (Moved to Gold Hill, opened a hotel)
Missouri 20 (had already married Jesse Tatum Forrest by then. Counted twice in the census. Must have been visiting her parents. Born prior to Nancy's marriage to John Melton. Alternately Boysworth/Melton)
Laura J 17 (married a Gill, moved to Gold Hill with mother)
Eliza 17 (married Franklin Cauble in 1851)
Caroline 16 (married James Mabry 1856 in Stanly County)
John Solomon 20 (also in census twice, son of Nancy Solomon)

Next to:
David Melton 28 Farmer
Mary 30 (Boysworth, Sister of Nancy. Both daughters of Jonathan Boysworth and Martha Almond Boysworth
Eben 4  Civil War casualty. Married Tabitha Morgan. 1 child Henry T. 
Davidson 2  (Davidson Alexander Melton. Moved to Roane, Tennesee)
Sarah Boysworth 18 (niece of Mary. Remained single and became favorite Nanny to children of Ellen D. Melton Snuggs, daughter of James R Melton).

Neighbors: Swaringen, Forrest, Bosworth, Shankle

1850

Whitman Milton 15 more research needed. Possible brother of Elisha H. Melton?

Living with Thomas Biles, Jr. family next to Dosey Boysworth family.

1850  House 698

John Perry  43
Margaret 45
Lewis C 22
Silva 19
Caswell 18

Margaret Milton 8 shown in court records as bound to John Perry in 1841. Married R. G. Hiram Huneycutt.
Henry Milton 6  bound to John Perry in 1847

Elijah Perry 70
Elizabeth 85

1860

John Perry 51
Margaret Perry 53
Caswell 26
Henry 15  apprentice (Henry Melton)



1850 Albemarle
James Hinson 48
Nancy Hinson 47 Nancy Melton Hinson, daughter of John, Sr. 
Sarah 21
Adeline 19
George Milton 7 married Elizabeth Crawford 1863. Served in Civil War
Margaret Hinson 5
Rebecca Hinson 3
Robert Blalock 50
Nancy Blalock 30

next to

William Melton 28 migrates to Missouri by way of Arkansas.
Mary 22 (Mary Hinson)
Martha F. 1
John Lilly 18 nephew, son of Frances Melton (deceased) and John Hogan Lilly

next to Lydia Brown 28

James Solomon  45
Frances Solomon 44

Henry Bird 44
Mahaley 43
Jackson 18
Martin 16
William A.
Benjamin Later living with one of the Melton's
Marah
James
Frances

Frances Kirk

Dr. F J. Kron


1850 Gold Hill, Rowan, NC
Harris Milton 26  This couple is mentioned in a Superior Court case in Stanly County that makes the history 
Ann Bird 28         books. At the time they are in Stanly County/

1860 Gold Hill

Ann Melton 40 Housekeeper

1860 Salisbury

William Melton 11
Living with A. W. Northern family son of Harris Melton and Ann Bird



1850 Montgomery County  Joseph Melton and family have to be included in the Stanly County listing although they lived in Montgomery County. Joseph was a son of John Melton, Sr. and Margaret Wilkenson. He lived just across the PeeDee River from what was then Allenton and today is near present day Norwood, in between there and Mount Gilead. 

Joseph 32 b 1818 NC
Clementine 30
Susan 12 marries Joseph Mabry
Ann Jane 10
Green 8
Atlas 5
Delphina 4
Sarah Ann McRae 6
Mary Ann McDonald 0

1860 Albemarle
Clementine Melton 45 She is living near James R Melton and Charlotte Melton
Atlas 15
Preston 8

Joseph D Melton and older son Green are MIA for this census. He remarries to Mary Ann "Polly" Solomon in 1868. Both Joe and his sons Green Jackson Melton and Atlas serve in the Civil War.










An interesting find in Salisbury.

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While in Salisbury, North Carolina, researching members of the Melton/Milton family who had moved there from Stanly County, and the Solomons, to whom they were connected, I found an interesting land document dated 1905, involving Solomons, and Howells, whom I have researched until throwing my hands up in frustration with for awhile, as they named too many of their boys "John". I have grown to despise the name John, among others. It's become  non- nominal. It's like saying 'seek the ocean to find a drop of water, just one, that is called "drop".

But this is not about my frustrations over the name John, but instead, this document, which mentions land in both Rowan and Stanly and lots in both Salisbury and Albemarle.

Salisbury is an ancient town, as far a central North Carolina goes, one of the oldest in what was considered the untamed west of the Carolina Piedmont/Foothills region. It sprang up near the Yadkin, close enough for access, and far enough to avoid the plagues that were associated with rivers and water and swamps and the like. The document was on page 190 in the deed books for that year.

This Indenture, Made this twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and five between Charles B Howell and wife Leslie Howell, Patrick Howell, Jessie Howell and James V. Howell of the County of Rowan and State of North Carolina, of the first part, and Claudia, Lucile, Solomon and James C. Solomon, of the County of Rowan and State of North Carolina of the second part:

So, who were they is the first question, before I get into the hereforetos and  plats and stakes and etc.s


Charles B Howell and wife Leslie can be found 221 North Main Street Salisbury/Spencer in the 1913 City Directory of Salisbury. He is a machinist.

Prior to that, in 1910, the family is living in Charlotte. Charles B Howell is listed as a machinist for the Railroad, his wife is reveled to have the first name of Pinkie, as in Pinkie L. Howell, and they have had two children, being a son, Leslie Conza Howell and a daughter, Elsie Marshall Howell.

Charles B Howell
Age in 1910:31
Birth Year:abt 1879
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1910:Charlotte Ward 4, Mecklenburg, North Carolina
Race:White
Gender:Male
Relation to Head of House:Head
Marital Status:Married
Spouse's Name:Pinkie L Howell
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Charles B Howell31
Pinkie L Howell28
Leslie C Howell7
Elsie M Howell3
Spencer and Salisbury were major Railroad hubs during the area, and a big part of the growth of North Carolina industry during the early part of the Twentieth century. It appears Mr. Charles B Howell and his family benefited from the Railroad Industry. But he was not a happy man.  His death certificate reveals that he drowned in 1914 and that his death was ruled suicide. He was the son of Kern Howell and Fanny Austin. Austin was a big Stanly County name and as much of the property involved was in Stanly County, perhaps Kern and Fanny lived there. 

A search of the next name on the list brings up a 1900 census listing of everyone involved in the deed living together. The mother of siblings Charlie, Patrick, Jessie and James V. Howell is Julia F. Howell. How much do you want to bet the "F" stood for Frances, or for short, Fanny?
Name:Patrick H Howell
Age:19
Birth Date:Dec 1880
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1900:Salisbury, RowanNorth Carolina
Race:White
Gender:Male
Relation to Head of House:Son
Marital Status:Single
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Name:Julia F Howell
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Occupation:View on Image
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Julia F Howell49
Charlie Howell22
Patrick H Howell19
Jessie Howell16
James V Howell14
James N Sollamon25
Cora M Sollamon24
Claudie L Sollamon4
James Sollamon1
The identity of the Solomon's, thoroughly misspelled as "Sollamon", is also revealed as Cora M. is her daughter, James N. her son-in-law and Claudie (Claudia Lucille as it turns out) and James, are her grandchildren. 

In 1910, Jessie Howell has married a Cotton and Julia F. is still living, so why the dispersement of lands?

Julia F Howell
Age in 1910:50
Birth Year:abt 1860
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1910:Salisbury East Ward, Rowan, North Carolina
Race:White
Gender:Female
Relation to Head of House:Head
Marital Status:Widowed
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
Julia F Howell50
Jessie Cotten26
Franlin Cotten3
James Cotten23
Lucilla Solomon13
James Solomon11

Julia F Howell
Julia Frances Austin Howell is buried in the Old Albemarle Cemetery, between PeeDee Avenue and East Main Street in Albemarle, so likely, she was a native of Stanly County. 

And the Solomons?
Name:James Nathaniel Solomon Jr
Gender:Male
Race:White
Event Type:delayedbirth
Birth Date:17 Feb 1899
Birth County:Rowan
Parent1 Name:James N Solomon Sr
Parent2 Name:Cora Howell
Roll Number:NCVR_B_C085_68001
Volume:917
Page:40
Young James filed a delayed birth certificate revealing himself to be the son of James Nathaniel Solomon, Sr. and Cora Howell. 

James N Solomon, Sr.s WWI record reveals that he is James Nathaniel Solomon, son of William S. Solomon from Morning Star township in Mecklenburg County, NC. 

Name:James Solomon
Age:6
Birth Year:abt 1874
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1880:Morning Star, Mecklenburg, North Carolina
Race:White
Gender:Male
Relation to Head of House:Son
Marital Status:Single
Father's Name:William Solomon
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Name:Nancy Solomon
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Neighbors:View others on page
Cannot read/write:

Blind:

Deaf and dumb:

Otherwise disabled:

Idiotic or insane:
Household Members:
NameAge
William Solomon48
Nancy Solomon40
John Solomon12
Bannie Solomon9
James Solomon6
Henry Solomon4
 He and Cora Louise Howell have 2 more daughters, Dorothy and Gertrude,  after James, and move to Virginia, during his military career. 
Name:James N Solomon
[James N Soloman] 
Age:42
Birth Year:abt 1878
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1920:Richmond Jefferson Ward, Richmond (Independent City), Virginia
Race:White
Gender:Male
Relation to Head of House:Head
Marital Status:Married
Spouse's Name:Louise Solomon
Father's Birthplace:North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:North Carolina
Home Owned:Own
Able to Read:Yes
Able to Write:Yes
Neighbors:View others on page
Household Members:
NameAge
James N Solomon42
Louise Solomon42
James Solomon20
Dorothy Solomon14
Gertrude Solomon10
His father William R. Solomon, was a Civil War soldier born in Mecklenburg County. Was there a connection to my Stanly County Solomon's? I do not know right now. 

Name:William R Solomon
Residence:Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, North Carolina
Occupation:Farmer
Age at enlistment:30
Enlistment Date:3 Sep 1861
Rank at enlistment:Private
Enlistment Place:Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
State Served:North Carolina
Survived the War?:Yes
Service Record:Enlisted in Company H, North Carolina 35th Infantry Regiment on 27 Sep 1861.
Birth Date:abt 1831
Sources:North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster
Name:William Solomons
Age:20
Birth Year:abt 1830
Birthplace:North Carolina
Home in 1850:Mallard Creek, Mecklenburg, North Carolina
Gender:Male
Family Number:977
Household Members:
NameAge
Elen Solomons45
William Solomons20
Caroline Solomons18
Elizabeth Solomons16
David Solomons14
Martha Solomons10
William and his siblings were the children of Drury Solomon, born about 1790 in Virginia and his wife Eleanor Killough, who were married in Cabarrus County, North Carolina in 1830. A quick look into a file of old Solomon records researched by Daniel L Worth reveals that he most likely was, but distant. 
Now, to the document.

Saving you, the reader from all the "of the first parts", etc. the following is excerpts, with the juice: persons and locations. 

"1) One tract on the S. E. side of Main Street, in the City of Salisbury, commencing in the middle of an alley....Goodmans line....S. W. with Main Street....Swink and Thomasson's old line, now Johnston, Vanderford and McCubbins....D. A. Goodmans line..."
2) A house and lot in the town of Albemarle, Stanly County, on the west side of Main Street, and designated on the Plat of said town as Lot number Ten (10), said Lot being sold by order of the Superior Court of  Stanly in the suit of Julia F. Howell, widow, Charles B Howell, against Jessie Howell and others and the proceeds thereof converted into money. 
3) Two tracts in Stanly County a) ....Carter and Mabry's corner, Burrages' corner, (mentions a white oak, black oak, a maple and a couple of sweet gum trees). B) East edge of the Salisbury Rd...W. E. Whitley's line, Mrs. Irving Swaringen's corner, (mentions a stump, a Spanish Oak, a branch or drain, adjoining W. E. Whitley, A. C. Mabry, Margaret Rummage, now in the hands of Rufus A. Crowell, Clerk of the Supreme Court of Stanly County...contingent and depending upon both the parties of the second part dying and leaving no issue. See Will of Cora M. Solomon, mother of the parties of the second part dated June 8, 1901, and recorded in Will Book number 3, page 478, December 7, 1901. see also deeds from M. B. Howell (1) one from Joseph Marshall and wife dated Nov 5, 1870, registered in Book no 7 page 146, Stanly County (2) Another from M. S. Holmes, dated March 8th, 1888, registered on Book no. 72 (Rowan County) pg 11 - (3) a third from R. S.  Crowell and wife, dated Dec. 21, 1885, registered in Book no 15, p 439 Stanly County. 

If anyone knows this family or the exact location of the property in Albemarle mentioned, leave a comment. 



Joseph the First

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I love it when an theory pans out. Sometimes, you just have to "take that leap".
I spent a few hours in the library today doing research. I've found the origins of  John Melton, Sr. who is in the early "West Pee Dee, Montgomery County" census and tax records of Stanly County. I found a James in early land records, as there was no 1820 census, who had disappeared before 1830. A "Betsy" Melton appears, however, with a houseful of people, in 1830 and 1840. She also disappears before 1850. Left instead, are unattached children. I discovered James was the brother of John, and found a marriage record for him in Granville County. Then there is Joseph Melton, Sr. He was not the father of Joseph Melton, Jr. John Sr. was. He may, however, been the father of John Melton, Jr. and perhaps James R. Melton. That, I am working on. 

The Meltons seemed to have a close bond with a number of families, the Solomons being one of them. There was a James Solomon who fought in the Civil War and had a wife named Frances or Fanny, in particular, who had a close relationship with the Meltons.

The Solomons came here from Franklin County, North Carolina origins. There was Bennett, Goodwin and William. I descend directly from William. There were also younger versions of these 3, and some who migrated to Tennessee. It is well-documented that Bennett married Ava McGregor, the daughter of the Rev. Willaim McGregor from whom the infamous Dr. F J Kron of Prussia purchased his home. Rev. McGregor founded a very early church in the area of the current Morrow Mountain State Park called "The Mouth of the Uwharrie". Rev. McGregor is supposedly buried near there, within the park and his daughter Ava McGregor Solomon migrated to Tennessee.

Some of the Meltons also migrated to Tennesee, and at this point, it is difficult to pinpoint who belongs to whom. I found a bit of information at the library, however. I discovered who Joseph Melton married. I found a listing of a bond in Franklin County in 1796 for Joseph Melton to an Abigail Bass. When I went to search for this couple on Ancestry.com, the bondsman was also listed: Goodwin Solomon. I know Goodwin Solomon was here during the first half of the 19th century. Joseph Melton, Sr. must have migrated with the Solomon brothers.

Now to find out who Joseph and Abigail's parents were. Was either of them related to the Solomons? And how was Joseph Melton related to John and James Melton, if at all?

There were other familiar names that later appear in local records and family trees. John Norwood. Presley Nelms. And those Wilkersons....

Another bit of information was the history of the Franklin County Bass family, and it may clear the fog on the Native American connection and the (M) labeled members of the family.



Name:Joseph Milton
Gender:Male
Spouse:Abbygal Bass
Spouse Gender:Female
Bond Date:19 Oct 1796
Bond #:000048297
Level Info:North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868
ImageNum:000477
County:Franklin
Record #:02 116
Bondsman:Goodwin Solomon
Witness:G. Hill, Jr., (D


A Stepping Stone Called Granville

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Granville County, North Carolina was one of the main stepping stones for families that originated in Virginia and ended up in the Cabarrus/Stanly/Montgomery/Anson County area of North Carolina, and to points beyond. It's one of the Northernmost counties, without being coastal, and borders Virginia.

It was named for John Carteret, Earl of Granville, who had ownership and control of massive sections of land along the Yadkin and Peedee Rivers and their contributaries, and most of the land transactions of the early settlers in this area involved Lord Granville and his grants.
Situated directly under Mecklenburg County, Virginia, where a good number of my ancestors were born, old roads led through Granville, which was populated first, into the southwest regions beyond.


But like other counties, land was bought up and opportunites led elsewhere, and for John Melton, Sr., that elsewhere became the section of Montgomery County, North Carolina, along the Yadkin/PeeDee River just below its confluence with the Uwharrie  River and above its fork with the Rocky River, on the West Bank, that would become Stanly County.

John Melton, Sr. appears to be the first of his brothers to settle in this area.

But back to Granville:

Starting with the Tax Lists:

1760  Henry Melton  1  0  1

1761  William House   3 taxables
           Overseer Richard Melton
           Negro Arthur

1761  Henry Melton   1  0  1

July 31, 1762. The foregoing is a Just List of those persons whom I have Summond in Island Creek District to give in their List of Tax for the year 1762, David Clanton, Constable

Henry Melton (included in list of names)

1762  Henry Melton 1  0   1

Will House   4
  Rich' Melton
  Negros Arthur and Judah

1763  Henry Melton    1 poll

1763  Henry Melton    2    0   2
          Benjamin Melton
  
1764  Henry Melton    3   0    3
          sons Henry & James


Land records:

103-322-323 Henry Melton to William Craig  2 February 1767 for 70 pounds proc' money, a certain tract or parcel of land lying in county of Granville on both sides of Howlett's Creek containing by estimation 234 acres, be the same more or less....Harris Line, to Cook's line, then south to a certain number of trees marked, it being the one half of the tract the said Melton now lives on which deed he obtained of my Lord Earl Granville agent bearing date 25 June 1761 and also being the lands and plantation Benjamin Whiker, Jun' lives on.  signed Henry (X) Melton
Wit: Veasey Husbands, Thomas Whicker, Benjamin Wicker. Granville County August Court 1767. Acknowledged by Henry Melton. Test Sm' Benton CC,
Puckett Farm, Granville County, North Carolina circa 1900, Tim Buckman photographs, Preservation North Carolina.
William Craig to Roland Gooch   19  April 1773
...a certain parcel of land lying on both sides of Howlett's Creek...it being one half of the tract the said Henry Melton Senior took up which he obtained from  Lord Earl of Granville agent bearing date 25 June 1761, and also being the land and plantation Benjamin Walker, Jr. lived on.

Governor Richard Caswell to Edmund Taylor  1 March 1780
....thence running  by Rowland Gooches to Melton's line

Governor Richard Caswell to Solomon Davis 24 Sept 1779
....then by Melton's line east

After these land records, I'm including a series of court records that piece together the family of John Melton, who settled in Montgomery County, and his siblings.


Granville County  Feb. Session 1810
Sales of estate of Henry Melton, deceased, in account with Stephen Melton, admstr'.

Nov. Term 1829  Petition of Elizabeth Melton against David Harris and wife Sarah, Steven Sandford and wife Sarah, Stephen Sandford and wife Catherine, Ezekial Jackson and wife Susanna, John, Pomfrett, James and Henry Melton, the children and heirs at law of Elizabeth Frazier, deceased, states that she, Elizabeth Melton, is the widow of Stephen Melton, who died intestate in 1828, possessed of 769 1/2 acres bounded by Maurice Smith and the heirs of James Smith, deceased, Allen T. Wilkerson, William  Ellison and others, which is the land whereupon Stephen Melton lived and died. He is survived by sisters and brothers and their issue, namely Sarah, wife of David Harris; Catherine, wife of Stephen Sandford, Susanna, wife of Ezekiel Jackson, sisters of Stephen Melton, all of Granville County, North Carolina, N.C, John, whose residence is unknown (the words 'Mont. Co.' was scribbled in), Pomfrett Melton of Granville County, James Melton who resides in Tennesee, who are brothers of Stephen Melton, deceased; the children and heirs at law of Ann Hester, deceased, who was a sister of Stephen Melton, and who are all of age, but place of residence unknown, and the children of Elizabeth Frazier, deceased, who was a sister of Stephen Melton, who are of full age and reside in foreign parts; petition to have dower of 1/3rd and dwelling house set off to her as widow of Stephen Melton. She was given 256 1/2 acres Feb. 16, 1830.

Farmhouse, 1990, oil on panel, 30"x 40" , Bob Donahue collection, whereabouts unknown

- Inventory of estate of Stephen Melton, deceased by Elizabeth Melton, Aug. 13, 1829 to Feb Court, 1830.

=Inventory of estate of Stephen Melton, deceased, Aug 13, 1829 (testator died June 20, 1828), including negros and debts due the estate, taken by Elizabeth Melton, admstrx. ; rendered Feb. court 1830.

Nov. 15, 1830 John Melton of Montgomery Co. N.C.  appoints Gabriel Baily of Person Co. N.C.  attorney, to collect  from David S. Young all he owes me as my agent. Witnesses: John Bailey, John T. Forrest. (shows early involvement between Melton family and Forrest family).

August Term, 1830 Petition of David Harris and wife Sarah, Stephen Sandford and wife Catherine, Ezekial Jackson and wife Susanna, James Melton, John Melton,  Pomfret Melton, Henry Melton, James Currin and wife Lucy, Michael Hester and his children: Sally, Henry, Stephen, James, John, Nancy; John Lile and his wife Agnes; William Johnson and his wife Elizabeth, Julius Strickland and wife Ritter; David S. Young and Demetrius Young against Jeremiah Fraizer and his children states that Stephen Melton died in 1828 without leaving any children and had at time of death 513 acres of land after all the widow's dower had been laid off, and they are brothers and sisters,nieces and nephews of said Melton. Jeremiah Frazier married Elizabeth, a sister of Stephen Melton, and had a number of children besides Lucy Currin, who resides with her father outside the State, and Elizabeth Fraizer, their mother, is dead.  They ask that Jeremiah Frazier be notified and ask division of the land. David S. Young has bought the shares of Stephen Sandford and wife and of John Melton; he is due a part since he is descended from Jeremiah Frazier or thru his wife. The land was surveyed and divided but since the names of the children of Elizabeth Melton Frazier cannot be learned, then David Young and Demetrius Young are given the share that would have gone to Elizabeth had she lived.

Granville County Court House circa 1900 courtesy of North Carolina Collection

Nov. 26, 1832

Israel Eastwood and wife Rhody (formerly Rody Wilkerson) of Person County, NC., John Melton and wife Peggy, (formerly Peggy Wilkerson) of Montgomery County, N. C.  appoint John Buckannon, attorney, to sell property inherited by us from our late father, David Wilkerson, deceased, who died 1825. Wts. Richard Springfield.
Signed Margaret Melton, John Melton, Isreal Eastwood, Rhoda Eastwood.


Other pertinent Court Records:

Nov 7, 1775 Harris Hicks, aged 14 and Absalom Hicks, aged 12 years, bound to  Henry Milton to become blacksmiths.

Feb 2, 1783 proved May court 1794 - Henry Melton (Milton) wills to wife all estate real and personal as long as she is my widow and then, in that case, to all my children. Exrs. Wife 'Hagia" and Thomas Hicks or Ricks. Witnesses: John Evans, Bar Wright, Alin Grissum.

Mar 1 & 2, 1808 Acct. of sales of estate of Henry Melton, deceased; Stephen Melton and John Melton bought negros, Sussannah Melton bought produce - sold by Stephen Melton, admin.

Feb. Court 1809 -Accounts of David Harris, guardian to James Melton.

Feb Court 1810: Sales of estate of Henry Melton, deceased, in account with Stephen Melton, admstr.

Sept. 10, 1822 - proved Feb. court 1823 - John Sears wills to wife Violette the plantation whereon I live and all rest of my property for her lifetime' to son John, after death of my wife, the plantation whereon I now live' all perishable goods, household and kitchen furniture be sold and divided between Anne Barnett, Agnes Milton,  William Sears, May Grisham, Elizabeth Harris and Sarah Hester; to the children of Temperance Hicks, an equal share in all perishable goods, household and kitchen furniture and tools; to Temperance Hicks, $1.00 Exr. John Sears, Sr.  Wts. James Ellis, Richard U. Lemay.



Marriages of Meltons and other involved parties: All Granville County, North Carolina unless otherwise noted. 

 23 Dec. 1774  Davis, Joseph Pomfret & Frances Satterwhite, Henry Melton, bondsman. Sherwood Harris , wit.

9 Feb 1789, Hester, Michael & 'JoAnney Melton', William Moore, bondsman, A. Henderson, witness.

19 Oct 1789 Frazier, Jeremiah & Betsy Milton, Henry Melton, bondsman, Henry Potter, witness.

19 Oct 1796 Franklin County, NC: Milton, Joseph  & Abigail Bass, Goodwin Solomon, Bondsman

25 Oct 1799 Melton, Stephen & Elizabeth Puryear, Thomas Puryear, bondsman.

5 Dec 1802  Harris, David & Sarah Milton, Stephen Milton, bondsman, P. Bullock Witness

13 Dec 1804 Franklin County, NC: Elisha Williams to Elizabeth Driver, John Milton, bondsman, G Hill, witness.

4 Feb 1805 Sandford, Stephen & Catherine Melton (it was noted that she was the sister of Stephen Melton). Logostine Pettypool, bondsman.

18 Jul 1805 Pettypool, Logustin & Letty Wilkerson (short for Letitia), Thomas Knotts, bondsman. (As Logustin Pettypool was very involved with the Melton family, I've included this one marriage. He was the brother of Sarah Pettypool Wilkerson, mother of Margaret (Peggy) who married John Melton.

25 Dec 1810 Melton, John & Margaret Wilkerson, David Harris bondsman. (This is John 'of Montgomery, from whom most of the Stanly County Meltons are descended, along with the descendants of his daughters Nancy Melton Hinson, Sarah Melton Hutson, Mary Melton, and Frances Melton Lilly.

6 Feb 1813 Pomphrett Melton & Sally Adcock, David Adcock Bondsman, W. W. Sneed wit.

1 Dec 1816 Jackson, Ezekial & Susan Milton, D J Young, bondsman, Step. K Sneed witness. (D. J. Young is mentioned in the lawsuits concerning the estate of Stephen Melton as a relative of this couple. Susan is Sussanah Melton, youngest daughter of Henry and sister of Stephen).

2 Dec 1816 Halliburton, John & Lydia Puryear, Stephen Melton, bondsman, Step. K Sneed witness. (Stephen must have stayed in town for these two weddings, his little sister and then his sister-in-law. Lydia was his wife Elizabeth's sister.)

13 Oct 1819 Person County, NC Eastwood, Israel & Rhoda Wilkerson: John Melton, bondsman, witness: John Holloway.
     (Rhoda or 'Rhody' was the sister of Margaret "Peggy" Wilkerson Melton, John's wife. Both were daughters of David Wilkerson and Sarah Pettypool.

17 Apr 1821 James Melton & Elizabeth PettyPool; James Sandford, bondsman, John P Smith, wit.

27 June 1822 Blackwell, Fleming & Mary Edwards, Stephen Melton bondsman, David J Young, witness. (Unknown the relationship of Stephen Melton to this couple, if any, but likely as David J Young was a relative of Stephen through his sister and brother-in-law.)

5 Nov 1822 Puryear, Peyton and Frances Amis, Stephen Melton, bondsman, James M. Wiggins, witness


In the next installation corcerning the early Melton's, I will be doing a timeline and tying all of these facts together.






 






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